Note: If you haven’t read part 1, read it here
With my insides feeling queasy, and with only one eye awake, I looked at the time.
9:20 am.
My exam started at 9.
I was fucked.
I rushed out of bed with my eyes burning and put on the pair of pants/sweats closest to me, donned a hoodie or some other hobo-looking piece of clothing, and looked in the mirror. Staring back was a guy with muddled hair sticking out all over his head, and two visibly red eyes with dark circles under them. Without brushing my teeth (I didn’t have time, I swear!), I rushed to the exam room, which was a good 20 minute walk from where I lived. Since there was a chance that they wouldn’t even let me write my exam (which meant an automatic fail), I ran for dear life.
If you’ve ever run on an empty stomach, you know that it can’t be very good for you, especially if you haven’t slept the night before. My body was clearly in disarray, and running to the gymnasium that morning, I still remember barely being able to catch my breath and tasting blood in my mouth. As I knew from playing basketball years earlier, running on an empty stomach makes me feel like I’m about to cough up blood. However, I had brought this upon myself, so I had to keep on going.
After 10 minutes of running, I finally make it into the gymnasium. Of course, by this time the doors were closed and there was a man standing outside to not let any more students in.
I went up to him, and in my frantic, breathless state, somehow managed to explain to him my predicament. I didn’t even have to exaggerate; I just told him what really happened.
He looked at me up and down - he saw the bloodshot eyes, the frantic hair, the lack of coordination in speech, and the hobo looking clothes I had on, and just stared at me in disbelief. I bet he was thinking, “He couldn’t make shit like this up, right?”
I remember him telling me that students weren’t usually permitted to write the exam after a certain time (it was about 9:30 or 9:40 AM by now), but that he would lead me to the head proctor to let her make the decision.
So there I was, 40 minutes after when my exam was supposed to start, being led to the head proctor. As I passed rows and rows of students, all of whom were stressed like me, but writing their exams at the times that they were supposed to, I received my first official “what the fuck are you doing with your life?” moment of my undergrad. This was pathetic; it was a predicament that someone with even basic organizational skills would never let themselves get into. However, that shift in mentality is a post for another day.
Anyway, the original male proctor whispered something the ear of the head proctor, and she asked me to explain my situation. Again, in my frantic, breathless state, I somehow managed to explain my predicament to her. I didn’t even have to exaggerate.
As I was telling my story, she just looked at me up and down - she saw the bloodshot eyes, the hair in hysteria, the lack of coordination in speech, and the hobo looking clothes I had on, and was probably thinking, “He couldn’t make shit like this up, right?”
For some reason, this old lady had sympathy for me and told me that I would be allowed to rewrite my French exam later on that afternoon at 4:30 pm.
I couldn’t believe my luck. I know it’s unfair (truthfully), but if you actually saw the state I was in at that time physically, I don’t think you’d hesitate giving me an extension. Plus, it was an honest mistake by a 19 year old who was clearly in over his head.
I went home, sighed in relief, ate, and went to sleep.
This time (with the help of about 5 alarms), I woke up at 1, studied till 4:00, and wrote my exam on time like a normal person would. Though I didn’t ace the exam, I did do pretty well on it; enough to pass that stupid course, anyway.
So, what was the life lesson? NEVER pull an all-nighter before a final exam (or any time, really).
Seems like common sense, right? But somehow I was arrogant enough to believe I could pull it off since I’d previously done it during my first year. I guess you live and learn.
To those wondering, yes I do still pull all-nighters, but only as a last resort – my time management is generally good enough now that I can get things done ahead of time without additional stress, though I do need all-nighters at times with a fourth year workload.
Also, no, I haven’t missed another exam since, and no, I never tried pulling an all-nighter before a morning exam again.
Now with that, here’s to hoping your exams go a little more smoothly than mine did for that course.
Happy exam time!
- G.P
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