When Stress Does The Talking

I have been extremely scatterbrained of late. If you have been following me long enough, you might have noticed that for the second time in my entire blogging career (which happens to be 5 months and seven days to the date), I have ignored Golden Rule... (or my Only Rule, but the other way sounded much cooler) ... my three to four day cycle of posting.

I think (thankfully), I’m well past the point where I thought if I slipped up, I would start unravelling, and then lose it altogether. Like my buddy N said; I might have come too far to quit now.

Everything changed the moment he said that. Till that point, it was like I was walking into the Minotaur’s lair, that ball of string in my hand and everything. Sure, I was stepping into darkness, possible death and destruction awaiting me a little further in.

But, see, the light from the door was spilling from behind me, and all the while I had the reassuring feeling that if things went south, I could make a dash for that door and pretend that the whole thing had been a nightmare.

The very instant dear old N said those words… (Yoooooooooou’ve gooooone tooooooo faaaaaaaaar, Maaaaaaaaattttt…..), it felt as if the door had slammed shut behind me. My only exit route was gone, and there I was, looking like an idiot with the ball of string, facing the looming eventuality of Bloggerhood.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel. I am walking towards it right now.

But not to get off point (too late), I have a good enough reason for missing my schedule. It’s the very same ailment that plagues hapless kids, teens, and college grads since the very dawn of education as (we think) we know it…

I have an exam. On Thursday, on the 22^nd, to be exact.

This exam is a direct consequence to the events that I moaned about in my very second post, on January 14^th (A Cinderblock to the Jaw) and is in fact a re-sit for that doomed, downed attempt.

It’s this time in any student’s life when we (maybe) take a step back and look at the other exam takers around us. Something I realized a long time ago popped back into my consciousness, and I thought I might as well write about it. The way I saw it, if I was going to waste more time without studying, I might as well do something productive.

Yes, it is in fact what I’m telling myself to make it feel right, thank you very much for noticing.

            The way I see it, there are (at least) three types of student out there… and each one reacts in a different way to pressure, studying, and in the end, results.

First, we have the Whizz Kid. Or rather, my version of the Whizz Kid. This is typically the straight-A guy, the one who spends his time working hard, studying hard, and usually has a reasonable chance of being successful. This dude doesn’t have to be a genius; maybe all he does is work darn harder than anybody else. If anyone, he deserves the win.

Note: the Whizz Kid is not to be confused with a nerd. They can be likable, may also be athletic, possibly ladykillers… but the point I’m trying to make is, they STUDY. HARD.

Next, we have the average student. This dude plays around, might or might not be the class clown, could be popular (or not)… basically, nothing over-the-top special. Point to notice here: this guy DOES study, but not as much as the prize winning, top of the chart guy up there. Does the average guy pass his exams? Yeah, of course. And… sometimes not. It’s mostly based on luck, memory power, and how much studying they actually did before the day of the exam.

And then, finally, the oddball. The guy who does not study, who goofs around, doesn’t pay attention in class, and yet, inexplicably manages to pass almost every exam. Maybe even with a good grade if he’s lucky. He loudly and openly states the truth… that he does not study… and yet no one believes him. How does he do it? I dunno, I think it’s a combination of luck, luck, and pure luck.

Yep. I was just describing myself.

Yup. That’s me.

Obviously, I’m not too familiar with the behavioral patterns of the first two, but if you want, I am perfectly capable of writing you a book on how the oddball reacts. And true fact I am seriously lucky when it comes to most of my exams.

( Note that this data has been collected through careful, independent research, and that I am not in any way affiliated with any known educational institutions concerning this theory )

Do I study? Okay, I admit, I study a little bit. But definitely not enough to consider me clinically sane. In any case, I think it’s time I quit stalling and get back to those books. But first… I need to scroll through Google+ to see what’s new. And then Facebook, because Facebook is never not busy. And then Twitter, because by now you get the point.

This post made absolutely no sense whatsoever, but I’m letting it stay here anyway, since I spent valuable time writing this. Bad enough I typed over 800 words, but deleting the whole thing would be a loss too much to bear.

I am so good at making excuses, aren’t I?

Wish me luck, people, I’m going in.