The insignificant test
Friday, 25 February, 2005
Well today was the day of our Greek weeks exam or, as Bill liked to call it, our “insignificant test”. I studied a bit last night and did a bit of vocab in the car this morning but nothing major—I wasn't swotting as hard as I was during the HSC. In the morning Ben didn't have class but I went with the other Bible & Mission students to Mike Raiter's house for Bible & Missions “orientation”. It was very relaxed. There are 32 of us doing the diploma so we were a bit squashed in Mike's lounge room. He did a devotion from Psalm 148 and read us a poem by Gerhard Frost. Then he talked a bit about the course—its history and what it involved. I felt excited listening to him because it all sounded heaps interesting and relevant (eg. a trip to one of the mosques in Sydney one afternoon during the term that we learn about Islam). Mike also said that the normal B&M social used to be to go out for yum cha before the Greek exam was put on a Friday and everyone was quite taken with the idea and were keen to put it into practice some other time.
There was a bit of time before the test but I didn't study—I sat on the grass under a tree and knitted while my dinner date cancelled on me and those around me did a last-minute flip through their vocab cards. Morning tea was delicious (Moore is currently getting the juiciest pears!) The exam started at 11:15 and Bill prayed before we began which I thought was absolutely lovely and wish I had had that all the way through high school. Space for our answers was on the exam paper but we were allowed scrap on which to scribble. I finished early and left 40 minutes into the exam. I was one of the first to leave, I think, and I sat under the heritage-listed grapevine (which used to be the beer garden of the White Horse Inn) and wrote a letter to Andrew to stick in his pigeon hole (which is next to ours).
People started trickling out then. Ben and I went to the library so he could look up articles on suicide for tomorrow's writing day. I photocopied Josephus for our first assignment and was intrigued by all these really interesting books that came up on the catalogue.
Lunch was fish and chips on plastic plates with styrofoam cups. For the first time we spotted Tim, Andrew and Paul and so went to eat lunch with them. Pete gave me this look when I sat down.
“What?” I said.
He made the Yellow Pages let-your-fingers-do-the-walking action and kept giving me The Look. Then I realised he was referring to the exam and the fact that I had left early. After lunch, I ran into Tho who said to me, “I will never sit next to you in an exam,” because I made him feel bad (I had left when he still had two pages to go). Now I feel bad because I made all these other people feel bad and I feel like I'm back at St. George again. Eek!
Blinks:
A way of funding writing in the future: pitch and idea and get people to support it.
Place where you can hire play equipment for parties, etc.
How to recalibrate the home button on your iPhone.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted by Pan Macmillan with certain conditions.
Thought Balloon is a group blog in which the writers tackle a new theme every week? month? with one-page scripts. This URL is for their Phonogram ones.
How to sew a zipper on a knitted garment.
Issues organised by tale.
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Seriously Karen - you don’t really feel bad do you? I think your class mates need a maturity injection…
You made him feel bad, therefore you sinned. Jesus says we must love one another, this is the greatest commandment.
However, I know logically I have no choice but to sin so may as well embrace it I would have told him he is stupid to feel bad and he should have more control over his emotional state rather than crying like a girl.
From the guy who has so far walked out of every exam early at college, you should just accept it. what’s the point in sitting in an exam room twiddling your thumbs? other people can just get over it and grow up.
Little says ‘hi!’
Thanks Seamus! (Hi Little!!
Philip, you can’t be serious, can you? That is absurd.
As an older Christian, I want to meet you and correct your perverse thinking young man. My email address is attached to this comment. If you don’t email me, I’ll feel bad and you will have sinned.
Craig, I sin all the time, not emailing you wouldn’t bother me at all.
But I have emailed you anyhow.
Hrm. Peer pressure isn’t very helpful in this sort of situation, is it?
I’m a chronic early-exam-leaver, so I can definitely sympathise. I can barely force myself to sit and review my questions, I just need to leave exam rooms early.
Should also point out that quick does not equate to correct. I generally think really quicky (which in retrospect probably accounts for me leaving exams early) but I make mistakes all the time. Other people are much more slow n’ steady when they do exams. It’s all personal preference and inclination and personality.
Don’t feel bad.