I failed some tests):

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily. ~ Zig Ziglar

Don't worry, I kept my hygiene up in college. Motivation, however, was a different animal.

My last several blogs have told an overview about how I graduated college debt-free, and that started with earning 33 college credits from my $2400 graduation money, starting with CLEPs.

The second part of that equation was DSSTs, which stands for DANTES Subject Standardized Tests. The obvious next explanation is that DANTES stands for the United States Department of Defense's "Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES)."

In the past, they were only taken by students in the military, to help them receive their degrees while serving. Now, you do not need to be in the military to take these, as civilians are allowed to take them too, albeit with a price close to CLEP tests.

Plus, DSSTs generally take longer, and tend to have more specific subjects to test out of, such as Business Ethics in Society and History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877.

So in the year 2013-2014, I took several DSST tests at the same testing center at which I took the CLEPs. I didn’t have as much success, however, because the tests look a bit different, and there weren’t as many study guides available as there were for CLEPS.

Out of the few DSSTs I took, unfortunately I only passed two, both of which would have been accepted at the school I was planned to attend, but not at the community college where I ended up going.

Unfortunately, in my quest to continue school without knowing exactly where I was going or doing, these tests were a casualty. Thankfully they only set me back a few hundred dollars instead of thousands. I was still debt free(:

But I think my motivation was waning. I felt like I wasted that year of school, but I also think it was another part to put into my story that I can share with you all, on this blog and in my future book I would like to write!

(So basically, I urge you to consider DSSTs in your college quest, but be aware of the differences that arise between them and CLEPs.)

So the next year I decided to do something a bit more drastic so I could launch my college career further... but more about that later...