diff --git a/morse.c b/morse.c
index 87a8c32..2f69e27 100644
--- a/morse.c
+++ b/morse.c
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ const char* char_to_morse(char letter){
 char* string_to_morse(char* string){
 	int string_len = strlen(string);
 	// worse possible case is 8 times the length (assuming all numbers/punctuation, and adding spaces)
-    char result[string_len*8];
-    char* result_ptr = result;
+    // +1 for NULL terminator
+    char* result = malloc(sizeof(char)*string_len*8);
     // sets everything to null in the string, just in case there was data there previously.
     strcpy(result, "");
 	for (int i = 0; i < string_len; i++){
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ char* string_to_morse(char* string){
             strcat(result, " ");
         }
 	}
-	return result_ptr;
+	return result;
 }
 
 const char morse_to_char(const char* morse){
@@ -72,18 +72,16 @@ const char morse_to_char(const char* morse){
 	}
 }
 
-char* morse_to_string(char* morse_to_cpy){
+char* morse_to_string(const char* morse_to_cpy){
 	int morse_length = strlen(morse_to_cpy);
 	char morse[morse_length];
 	strcpy(morse, morse_to_cpy);
 
-	// TODO: make this dynamic
-	int max_size = 1024;
-	char result[max_size];
-	printf("%d\n", morse_length);
-	char* result_ptr = result;
+    // allocate the amount of space the morse takes up for the text string
+    // this could be changed, but I don't see the point in optimizing the small things here.
+    char* result = malloc(sizeof(char)*strlen(morse));
 	// copy nothing to the string to avoid extra data
-	strcpy(result, "");
+	//strcpy(result, "");
 
 	// split by the space character
 	char* morse_ptr = strtok(morse, " ");
@@ -95,7 +93,7 @@ char* morse_to_string(char* morse_to_cpy){
 		// reset the morse ptr for the next section between a space
 		morse_ptr = strtok(NULL, " ");
 	}
-	return result_ptr;
+	return result;
 }
 
 char *multi_tok(char *input, char *delimiter) {
diff --git a/morse.h b/morse.h
index b27207a..8cb7562 100644
--- a/morse.h
+++ b/morse.h
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ const char * char_to_morse(char letter);
 char * string_to_morse(char* string);
 char * from_morse(char* string);
 const char morse_to_char(const char* morse);
-char * morse_to_string( char* morse);
+char * morse_to_string( const char* morse);
 
 void print_morse(char* string, bool b1, bool b2, long s1, long s2);
 void reverse_morse(char* string);
diff --git a/test.c b/test.c
index 74be852..adef2ec 100644
--- a/test.c
+++ b/test.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
 #include "morse.h"
 
 int tests_run = 0;
@@ -21,15 +22,18 @@ const char* FAIL_FORMAT = "\e[31m[%s]: \"%s\" %s \"%s\"\e[0m\n";
 const char* PASS_CHAR_FORMAT = "\e[32m[%s]: \'%c\' %s \'%c\'\e[0m\n";
 const char* FAIL_CHAR_FORMAT = "\e[31m[%s]: \'%c\' %s \'%c\'\e[0m\n";
 
+const char* FUNCTION_CALL_CFORMAT = "%s(\'%c\'):\n";
+const char* FUNCTION_CALL_SFORMAT = "%s(\"%s\"):\n";
+
 void assert_char_eq(const char c1, const char c2){
-	tests_run++;
-	if (c1 == c2){
-		printf(PASS_CHAR_FORMAT, PASS, c1, EQ, c2);
-		tests_passed++;
-	} else {
-		printf(FAIL_CHAR_FORMAT, FAIL, c1, NEQ, c2);
-		tests_failed++;
-	}
+    tests_run++;
+    if (c1 == c2){
+        printf(PASS_CHAR_FORMAT, PASS, c1, EQ, c2);
+        tests_passed++;
+    } else {
+        printf(FAIL_CHAR_FORMAT, FAIL, c1, NEQ, c2);
+        tests_failed++;
+    }
 }
 
 void assert_str_eq(const char* s1, const char* s2){
@@ -56,24 +60,28 @@ void assert_str_neq(const char* s1, const char* s2){
 
 void assert_ctm(char input, char* output){
     const char* result = char_to_morse(input);
+    printf(FUNCTION_CALL_CFORMAT, "char_to_morse", input);
     assert_str_eq(result, output);
 }
 
 void assert_stm(char* input, char* output){
-    char result[strlen(input)*8];
+    char* result = malloc(sizeof(char)*strlen(input)*8);
     // fill with blanks in case of previous data
 //    strcpy(result, "");
-    strcpy(result, string_to_morse(input));
+    result = string_to_morse(input);
+    printf(FUNCTION_CALL_SFORMAT, "string_to_morse", input);
     assert_str_eq(result, output);
 }
 
 void assert_mtc(char* input, char output){
 	char result = morse_to_char(input);
+    printf(FUNCTION_CALL_SFORMAT, "morse_to_char", input);
 	assert_char_eq(result, output);
 }
 
 void assert_mts(char* input, char* output){
-	char* result = morse_to_string(input);
+    char* result = morse_to_string(input);
+    printf(FUNCTION_CALL_SFORMAT, "morse_to_string", input);
 	assert_str_eq(result, output);
 }