The Test That Deceives

I sit here writing this, waiting for the gallon of Coldstone ice cream I just bought to freeze up again. A whole gallon? That’s right, a whole gallon. In my defense, I needed it today because I just found out I completely butchered my last test. This was not just any test either–it was one of those tests that you walk away feeling like you just aced it. You know what I mean, right? Right when that test hits the professor’s desk, you just say to yourself, “Oh yeah, baby. I just did that.”

A few weeks later, you get the scores back and your stomach instantly drops. This E cannot be my grade, no way. The professor must have gotten my test score switched with someone else’s. But it is your grade. At least it was my grade. I even emailed my teaching assistant to be sure that my test was graded correctly, and I sort of wish I didn’t now because the reply I got was less than reassuring. Apparently, I had no idea what the hell I was talking about in my short answers and literally received no points for them. Even though it is a sad situation, it makes me laugh to think about what my teaching assistant was thinking when he was reading my responses. He was probably pondering if I was aware of the course I was taking the test for.

There is a slight glimmer of hope, though, and that’s the promise of one more test. I have one more test to bring me back out of the grave test number two put me in. That’s the thing about college: you can fail a test completely and still have that last chance to get through the course with an average grade at the very least. That’s one of the reasons I love college. There will always be a second, or even third, opportunity to show the professor and the world that you know damn well what class that test is for.

I was pretty down about my test score earlier, hence the gallon of chocolate cake batter ice cream sitting in my freezer, but I find as the night goes on it bothers me less and less. Why stress about a test score I cannot change when I should be stressing for the next test that I need to study for? I’ll just do really, really well on the next test and that will be that! Now, if you will excuse me, I have some ice cream to attend to.