The results of the early exams came out today; amazingly everyone passed. We had an unprecedented number sitting this time so it really was an incredible effort. It was suggested that the exams are getting easier, but they're not. I've got my own theories for today's perfect score:
(a) My department now has a virtual A-plus-only hiring policy, so we now have some very clever people in our midst. The academic bar has been raised several notches since I arrived on the scene. I was very much a B-grade student so if I hadn't got in when I did, I never would have made the cut.
(b) We've got far too many people working in our department. There just isn't enough meaningful work to go round. So all the new students have oodles of time to study.
(c) The number of students has reached a critical mass where they can study in a group and generally help each other out.
At the same time as all those results came in (one of my colleagues celebrated so wildly you'd have thought he'd just won the Powerball jackpot), I got a letter giving a breakdown of last week's result. I'd done even worse than I'd imagined, coming 142nd out of 177 and passing just one question out of six.
A celebratory barbecue had been planned for tonight (our whole department was invited) and I'd brought beers and a change of clothes to work. But by mid-afternoon I realised I simply couldn't face the thought of being with people tonight, and certainly wasn't in the mood for celebration of any sort. So at 5pm I went home, did a good half-hour on the cardio-glide thingy and downloaded Green Day's 21 Guns. I'll try and stay up for the men's semis tonight.
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