Preparations
There is a dread some people have, upon leaving their house for a long period of time, that something in the house has been left on. Was the water running? Was the oven on? Do the cats have food? Do the ants? Was a light left on? Were too many lights left on? And dear God where are the children?
It is a fact that preparation is often a priority-based activity. We handle the big things first: tickets, money, hotel reservations. Then we handle the medium-sized things: clothes, electronics, luggage. We slowly whiddle down the priority train until we're left wondering, as our plane takes off, if we left the hair dryer on in the bathroom.
Now, I've not gotten on a plane -- my last few trips have dealt more with a separation of myself from sanity than anything else. However, the above iterations have less to do with travel and more to do with general preparations. And this past week I had been preparing for finals.
I read hundreds of pages of textbook.
I redid dozens of practice problems.
I studied on my own for hours.
I studied in a group for hours.
The day before one particular final I studied from 2pm until 4am.
In short, I felt prepared. I had handled the large things. The medium things. Even many of the small things. Fearing that I would doze off in the middle of the final, I drank a can of coke for lunch. I drank a can of coke a few hours before the exam while studying. I had a can of coke with me while I took the test. Everything was going according to plan -- I was prepared.
The final exam started at approximately 4:30pm. My mind racing, I plowed into the problems... my initial fear of the exam replaced by cautious optimism as I recognized some of the early questions. Have no doubt -- this was a hard exam covering an incredibly (irresponsibly) large set of material.
Then, fifteen minutes into the exam -- into the three hour exam -- it happened. I realized what I had not prepared for. I found my proverbial "left the water running".
All of the coke I had drunk in preparation for the test was now quite anxious to vacate my body. Fifteen minutes into the exam I really had to pee.
Now, trust in a graduate school final is a tricky thing and asking to be excused to use the facilities just isn't going to fly. WHat is a test taker to do? First you try and push it out of your mind -- mind over liquid, if you will. Failing that, the legs begin to shake, as do the arms. Generally, you are overcome with a sense of urgency.
90 minutes into the exame I had put an answer down to every question. Normally, this is the time where one goes over the problems, makes sure everything makes sense, and tries one last time to reason through some of the more difficult essay questions. My body would have none of that.
Before the ink dried on the last question the exam had been flung on the teacher's desk and I raced out of the room.
The relief was temporary, of course, as I sat back and wondered just what on earth I had answered during the latter half of the exam.
Clearly people often talk of finals being painful, but this one was physically so. And next time I will remember just one more way in which to be prepared.
-Ed
It is a fact that preparation is often a priority-based activity. We handle the big things first: tickets, money, hotel reservations. Then we handle the medium-sized things: clothes, electronics, luggage. We slowly whiddle down the priority train until we're left wondering, as our plane takes off, if we left the hair dryer on in the bathroom.
Now, I've not gotten on a plane -- my last few trips have dealt more with a separation of myself from sanity than anything else. However, the above iterations have less to do with travel and more to do with general preparations. And this past week I had been preparing for finals.
I read hundreds of pages of textbook.
I redid dozens of practice problems.
I studied on my own for hours.
I studied in a group for hours.
The day before one particular final I studied from 2pm until 4am.
In short, I felt prepared. I had handled the large things. The medium things. Even many of the small things. Fearing that I would doze off in the middle of the final, I drank a can of coke for lunch. I drank a can of coke a few hours before the exam while studying. I had a can of coke with me while I took the test. Everything was going according to plan -- I was prepared.
The final exam started at approximately 4:30pm. My mind racing, I plowed into the problems... my initial fear of the exam replaced by cautious optimism as I recognized some of the early questions. Have no doubt -- this was a hard exam covering an incredibly (irresponsibly) large set of material.
Then, fifteen minutes into the exam -- into the three hour exam -- it happened. I realized what I had not prepared for. I found my proverbial "left the water running".
All of the coke I had drunk in preparation for the test was now quite anxious to vacate my body. Fifteen minutes into the exam I really had to pee.
Now, trust in a graduate school final is a tricky thing and asking to be excused to use the facilities just isn't going to fly. WHat is a test taker to do? First you try and push it out of your mind -- mind over liquid, if you will. Failing that, the legs begin to shake, as do the arms. Generally, you are overcome with a sense of urgency.
90 minutes into the exame I had put an answer down to every question. Normally, this is the time where one goes over the problems, makes sure everything makes sense, and tries one last time to reason through some of the more difficult essay questions. My body would have none of that.
Before the ink dried on the last question the exam had been flung on the teacher's desk and I raced out of the room.
The relief was temporary, of course, as I sat back and wondered just what on earth I had answered during the latter half of the exam.
Clearly people often talk of finals being painful, but this one was physically so. And next time I will remember just one more way in which to be prepared.
-Ed
posted by Ed at 3:45 PM
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