Angela Washington

so ive been a Tech for about 8 months now and honestly been having a lot of fun on VHF and some 10m when the band cooperates but i keep hearing people talk about HF and working DX and all that and im starting to feel like im missing out on a lot. been looking at the General class question pool and honestly some of it looks pretty intimidating, especially the electrical theory stuff and the propagation questions. i do okay with rules and regs but the math parts are kind of freaking me out a little. does anyone have a good way to study for this or is it mostly just memorizing the pool? i tried reading the ARRL handbook but it feels like drinking from a firehose. also once i pass and get my General privileges what bands should i even start on, like where do people actually hang out. sorry if this is a vague question i just dont really know what im missing yet

so i finally did my first WWFF activation last weekend at a state forest near me, KFF-something i pulled off the website. i had been meaning to try this for ages after seeing a few posts here about it and honestly it was a great excuse to get outside with the radio for a few hours. i set up my KX3 with a random wire thrown up in a tree, worked about 30 contacts on 40m before the band kind of died on me and then picked up a few more on 20. got my 44 which i know is the minimum to log it as a valid activation which felt good. couple things im not sure about though — do i need to submit my log anywhere specific for WWFF or does it just go through ADIF upload to the main site? also i saw something about getting the reference validated or confirmed, is that automatic or does someone review it? and one more thing, the reference i used was listed on the Flora Fauna website but i couldnt find much info about the specific park boundary so i kind of guessed. is there a better way to check the actual boundaries before heading out

My Technician exam is scheduled for next Saturday and I'm getting pretty nervous, even though I've been scoring well on practice tests. I know it's normal to feel anxious on exam day, but any specific tips for staying calm and confident? I need 26 out of 35 questions correct and know I'll get my score immediately, which is both exciting and nerve-wracking. What helped you folks manage the pre-test jitters?