SHORT STORY
The following anecdote is neither interesting or funny, but it’s all I got right now.
So last Friday, I got the pleasure of invigilating a super long exam. I showed up twenty minutes before the exam started, like you’re supposed to. That made it around 11:40am. The profs arrive and we distribute the exams. The venue is the SRC which is a nice gym by the SUB. The exams are spaced out on these tables by every other row and every other column. The separation is incredible, I don’t even need to be here to make sure no one cheats.
At noon, the students are let in. They’re all mechs. I gotta say, compared to all the other engineering disciplines, mechs are one of least nerdy. There are certainly more women in mech compared to when I was in undergrad.
As the students get settled, the profs give out directions. It’s 12:15pm at this point. They’re going to give the students 15 minutes to just read over the exams and ask questions. I’ve never seen that before.
Exam questions are read and student questions are asked. I spend the 15 minutes scurrying around and pointing out to the profs which students have their hands up. With over 100 students and only two profs to answer questions, it takes some coordination.
The exam starts in earnest at 12:30pm. I’ll be there until 3pm. Yikes. Lucky I brought some reading material. I take a chair and sit down at the back of the gym. I read for a bit, get chilly, go take a leak, and do some more reading.
At 2:30pm some fresh-faced, cherubic student in sweats enters the room at the back of the gym. He looks around and walks towards me.
“Is this Poly Sci 101?”
“No, this is MECH 351. Where’s your exam supposed to be?”
“SRC C, but it’s empty.”
“When’s your exam?”
“2:30pm.”
“2:30pm? That’s a weird time. Exams are only supposed to be at 8:30am, 12pm, and 3:30pm.”
He looks at me with apprehension and leaves the gym. I look at him go with sympathy. I hope to hell he didn’t misread 12pm for 2:30pm. Missing a final exam is one of the worst fears any student has.
My exam ends shortly after. Papers are collected and I’m set free. When I get home, just out of curiousity I checked the exam time for POLI 101. It is indeed for 3:30pm. I just hope he didn’t go home.