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todayiamadaisyThe first exam went well. Because I'm so far from Monash University, I get to sit my exams right here in the City by the Sea at the local TAFE College (that stands for Technical And Further Education - it's for practical qualifications like apprenticeships). Normally there's only me and perhaps one or two other Monash students, tucked away in a tiny back room, scribbling away at our papers. Today the lady said to me, "You're going to have a lot of company this time", and led me to the main lecture theatre where about fifty youthful plumbing apprentices were sitting a technical drawing exam in advanced roofing. "They started an hour ago," explained the lady, "so you'll have to slip in quietly from the back door. One of them was so nervous when I checked his ID his hands were shaking." Poor kid.
My desk was obvious - nearest the back door and empty apart from a paper on Australia's Cultural and Communications Policy - so I squeezed in, making as little noise as I could. The boy in the next desk looked up and whispered, "Hello, Alicia", and grinned at me before going back to his work. This confused me; I don't know any young potential plumbers. Then I looked at the whiteboard at the front of the room and all became clear. The invigilator had written two sets of instructions about time allowed and keeping quiet and so on, one headed "ADVANCED ROOFING" and the other headed "ALICIA". Didn't I feel special?
I've recently been pointed in the direction of Sarsaparilla, a multi-person Australian-based blog on arts & culture issues, and most interesting it is. A link there recently made me feel better about any minor exam-related panics I might have: a professor of history creating a world chronology based on spectacular errors in student papers. I have a dreadful habit of skipping half the word when I'm writing "ing" in a hurry (so "maintaining" becomes "mainting", for example). I know I do this and keep a weather eye out for it; but even if one slips through, at least I'll know I've never written about a "class of yeowls".
My desk was obvious - nearest the back door and empty apart from a paper on Australia's Cultural and Communications Policy - so I squeezed in, making as little noise as I could. The boy in the next desk looked up and whispered, "Hello, Alicia", and grinned at me before going back to his work. This confused me; I don't know any young potential plumbers. Then I looked at the whiteboard at the front of the room and all became clear. The invigilator had written two sets of instructions about time allowed and keeping quiet and so on, one headed "ADVANCED ROOFING" and the other headed "ALICIA". Didn't I feel special?
I've recently been pointed in the direction of Sarsaparilla, a multi-person Australian-based blog on arts & culture issues, and most interesting it is. A link there recently made me feel better about any minor exam-related panics I might have: a professor of history creating a world chronology based on spectacular errors in student papers. I have a dreadful habit of skipping half the word when I'm writing "ing" in a hurry (so "maintaining" becomes "mainting", for example). I know I do this and keep a weather eye out for it; but even if one slips through, at least I'll know I've never written about a "class of yeowls".
