Exams

Today at 9:30am my students are taking their final exams.  Before the hush of exam anxiety there was some actual panic.  I was on my way to the testing hall when I got a call from Kristin to say there was a problem with my exam and was there supposed to be a parsing guide with the exam and....   Jeesh!  If they hadn't included the parsing form (two pages mind you) for all the verbs with the rest of the exam I was going to be in serious trouble when I had to start marking.

I hurried to Upper College Hall, pushed my way through the crowded anxiety ridden hall and ran up the stairs.   The moderator told me the only problem he knew of was that the exams for the graduate students said the exam was for 3 hours not 2.  Phew - that was easy to fix!  Everybody got 2 hours, period.  OK, let them in.... 

There were about six different exams taking place in the same room.  Everyone scrambled to drop their coats, bags, and shut off their phones.  Then they had to find the correct row with their exam.  Barnaby (MA student) ended up in the undergraduate row so I had to move him.  When the dust settled and I counted my heads one was missing - Panic.  Where was Sam, my beloved Sam who always starts a class with the classic, "Could I ask you one question about the assignment?"  (makes me smile just thinking about it!)  Luckily Kirsty knew he was taking his exam in another location because he'd done something to his arm recently and needed extra time to write.  I'm a little scared as to what this is going to do to his already questionable hand writing.

I had to stay around for about 10 mins to be there if anyone had a question.  Nobody did so I stood at the back of the room and watched my students, heads bowed, concentrating and I felt such pride in all they had accomplished this year.  It was really amazing.  What an amazing year it's been!  I am really going to miss them.