Inez’s First Year Blog: Exams, Austen and Anxiety

Hey everyone,

C- Go ahead. Haven’t used C in a while.

Hope you had an awesome winter break and a less-than-terrible exam period.  Exams ended last week… And I have to say I didn’t know what to expect.   I was terrified… and a recurring scenario would play before my eyes: Upon entering the exam hall, everything I revised would just vaporise.  Vanish.  Disappear.  Leave. And I’d be left staring at the blank answer sheet…. With NOTHING in my head!! I’d answer the multiple question paper using the “ A,B,C,D” methodology.  For those less experienced in the arts of anxiety and knowledge-procurement, this method is  simple and user-friendly. Idiot-proof.   It relies on an easy-to-follow thought process.  You think to yourself, “ hmm, what letter have I not used in awhile—A,B,C or D?”  If your answer sheet is severely lacking in “A”s—well then—fill in as appropriate.

 Thank goodness, nothing so extreme happened! All the same, I wish information would be as willing to enter my brain as it is to leave it. Diffusion rather than vaporisation.    I have to say though, in university, for the first time I’ve actually enjoyed studying some modules- I was surprised by that.  I guess doing something you like has its perks!  I could drone on and on and bore you to extinction with my list of exam- related complaints. But I’ll be kind and spare you today!

I had applied for the Manchester Autumn Mentor Program last year September-ish, and that’s probably one fo the best things I’ve done whilst in uni.  I got assigned to a lovely lady named Kate, who is a features editor at New Scientist.  I got to see for myself what a day in the life of an editor is like.  It was amazing! The topics they write features on are so diverset- they range from articles on whether humans are alturistic, to articles on the evolution of language.  The latter particularly interested me, because I’ve always loved archaic, olden English.  This probably stems from my IGCSE Literature class, when we would read Jane Austen’s lively, witty prose in a sun-soaked classroom.  One particular quote of hers burned itself into my brain-” I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them.”  Probably not politically correct, and said with bad intentions- but the woman echoes my rather selfish, bad-tempered sentiments.  She’s a genius!!

Until next time,

Xoxo

Inez.