all that goes on during an exam.

as i rubbed my tired eyes, i stared out of the window.

it was 8 am and i was on the overground on my way to stratford to change to the jubilee line and then on the docklands light rail. the sun was just about peeking out of the clouds and everything was tinted a hue of orange as i finally felt that calmness ripple within me. i had only managed a 2.5 hour power sleep because of the nerves that were getting to me so many nights before.

the weather didn't feel like it but it was in fact -2 degrees as i see remnants of snow all along the pavements. this time i was equipped for whatever mother nature was going to throw at me because everything that goes on across the river thames is that much harsher. i arrived at the centre 30 minutes later and there already were birds earlier than i, flipping madly through their notes before the exam at 10 am. i wish i hadn't fall victim to the mad rush of last minute studying but it seemed as if whatever i studied just went in from the left and came back out from the right.

after 1 hour of studying i figured that that was it. i chucked all my notes back into my bag and navigated my way to the toilet before heading to the exam hall.

it was crazy. there were at least 3,000 desks and chairs lined up in an orderly fashion. i tried to find my desk amidst the chaos of it all and chucked my belongings to the back of the hall (which is probably 2 minutes away) before i made myself comfortable on my seat. reality of the exam began to set in and my stomach was doing incessant cartwheels inside.

15 minutes later, the exam commenced. i turned the booklet over to reveal all the questions and realised that i knew all that they were asking. but my mind was tossed like a caesar salad as all that i knew were mixed up. i couldn't organise my mind. it made me so nervous i was going to hyperventilate. not to mention i was so tired from the lack of sleep that it was catching up to me. to make matters worse, somebody sitting near me had horrendous body odor and there was this constant stench lingering ever so often in the air. i just couldn't place my finger on who it really was coming from.

45 minutes into the exam, i was getting my act together and managed to finish a question. a quarter of the way in, i was having stomachaches.. good enough to render some toilet business. the toilet was probably 5 minutes away. i did a quick mental calculation and realised i would waste 15 minutes for a toilet visit so i told myself to hold it in.

fighting back the bowel movements and never-ending body odor, i managed to press on and finished all of the questions in record time and speed and unbelievably wrote 40 pages worth of stuff within 3.5 hours. following the exam, i felt as if a load had been removed from my shoulders.

best of all, perfect weather welcomed me as i walked out of the exam centre.