exams

It's that time of year again...

...exam time! When teachers test the knowledge of their hardworking (or not) students to decide upon their grade and congratulate themselves on another successful year of lecturing (or sitting back while students present). When various forms of torture (essays, short answer, listening, compare and contrast, stretch and contort, strain and bleed, hemorrhage and die) are employed to help the teacher understand just what went on in their pupils' brains throughout the semester (no, sir, I wasn't paying attention during the discussion of the subtle differences between Durufle and Faure because I was more concerned about how I was going to pay for said lecture and the food I needed for next week) and how much of that has been retained (as water in one's fatty parts). And, of course, to help the student realize just how much the teacher loves/hates the student's very soul, because everyone knows that the four (or five) letters of doom (A, B, C, D/F) determine who gets the best job and will be the most successful in life.

All this to say: I'm studying for my choral seminar exam. A longer post will most certainly follow once I've completely choked on the multiple dates and style periods of dry toast, ahem, "music history," slathered with a spicy sauce of expectations (you must get an A because you're a Choral Conducting grad student) and a side of bitter herbs (every date, name, and note flips itself in my head and taunts my ability to complete coherent sentences) with no water to wash it down. All this might be slightly colored by my struggle to be kind to my fellow classmate, whom I must certainly outperform. Competitive? Yes. Annoyed? Yes. Mean spirited? Don't want to admit it, but yes. Bah.

Pray that I have
1. the right attitude
2. good recall
3. a good grade when this is all said and done.