I've Been Through the Valley for You*

I've just been ransacking google images for graphical representation of my grade and have discovered that unless you are getting an A or an F, no one wants to hear about it.

When did this happen? When did getting a B mean 'better luck next time chicky-poo' and 'aaaah, you poor thing'? All or nothing I'm seeing.

That's what I got! A B! On the final and overall. I may have exaggerated once that I was pulling a C, but I do now believe I was feeling the all or nothing approach to schooling.

I am happy with my B and happy that I'm done with school for a minute.

Happy!

Taking the final took over two hours out of my day and may have shortened my life by about five years.

The stress!

I read through each question so many times, went back through the exam so many times, gave answers, and then double checked what I was answering.

11:30 a.m. - Settle in chair. Computer fired up and ready. Web page accessed and logged in.

11:35 a.m. - Oh, I have to pee.

11:40 a.m. - Double checking log-in name. Is Deborah spelled right?

11:45 a.m. - Reading and rereading exam instructions.

11:50 a.m. - Shutting door. Considering locking in case Pup comes home, running through the house shouting something important like, "Somebody needs a spanking?"

11:55 a.m. - Laugh about this visual for a second or two.

12:00 p.m. - Begin for real.

12:15 p.m. - This is hard.

12:30 p.m. - I have to pee again.

12:45 p.m. - This is seriously hard. My brain is starting to hurt.

12:50 p.m. - Mind wanders to my Blackberry; do I need to check it?

12:55 p.m. - I resist.

1:00 p.m. - Are you Fing kidding me? I'm only on question 38 out of 66? Shoot me now.

1:05 p.m. - Why did I have that second enormous cup of coffee? {scurrying off to pee again}

1:10 p.m. - Agonize over questions 39 and 40. Make wild guesses.

1:15 p.m. - Go back to questions 39 and 40. Make second wild guesses.

1:20 p.m. - Hit part three of final; the easy part.

1:25 p.m. - Hit submit.

1:30 p.m. - Use curse words I didn't know I knew because I have to give an evaluation before the systems will release my grade.

1:35 p.m. - Call Instructor to ask about office code number. WTF?

1:40 p.m. - Text Lyndsi if she knows the code.

1:45 p.m. - SUBMIT and hello there B! I'm happy to meet you.

1:50 p.m. - Stumble from room looking for water like it's actually scotch.

Aaaaaaaah, sweet relief. My face is red and the anxiety is fading from my gut.

Love this feeling! Ha!

*Just try getting John Legend out of your head when you're in the middle of your final. Uh huh.