I didn't sleep last night. Every time my eyes would start to close, I'd remember what was coming and I'd snap back to attention. I had been looking toward this day with dread for months.
And it was finally here. I walked into the classroom at 8:55, offering homemade soft pretzels to my fellow fighters. We needed all the energy we could get. It was going to be a long hour.
The exam walked in just after I did, carried by our professor. He'd been preparing us for this moment. He believed in us. He'd watched us learn and struggle and finally comprehend. He'd been arming us. He'd poured into us for weeks.
But now, it was time for him to let go. It was time for him to let us find out just how much we could do on our own.
He passed out the test papers. I stared down at it and it stared back up at me. The strange alphabet swam before my eyes. I closed them for a moment, clearing my head of distractions, trying to summon all that I had studied.
I picked up my pencil and wrote my name. "There, at least they'll know that I tried to fight."
I flipped through the pages, hoping for words that looked familiar, hoping that the extra credit would be enough, hoping that I would stay awake to finish this.
I did what I could. I wrote furiously. I did the easy parts first. "Mood: Indicative." Every time. Then I looked for the present tense. That's simple enough. I looked for nouns and verbs that I knew. I looked for prepositions.
I did what I could. I really did. I tried my best, and gave up when I knew I couldn't fight any longer.
I walked over to the professor and put the papers down in front of him, shaking my head. He'd believed in me, and I felt I'd let him down. I'd let myself down.
I walked into the hall to join my classmates. We stared at each other in shock. We'd had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We had tried. All that was left was to wait until the grades were posted.
It didn't take long. That night I checked and saw the result.
Elementary Greek I: A
I had won. I had been victorious. I had not been defeated.
And it was finally here. I walked into the classroom at 8:55, offering homemade soft pretzels to my fellow fighters. We needed all the energy we could get. It was going to be a long hour.
The exam walked in just after I did, carried by our professor. He'd been preparing us for this moment. He believed in us. He'd watched us learn and struggle and finally comprehend. He'd been arming us. He'd poured into us for weeks.
But now, it was time for him to let go. It was time for him to let us find out just how much we could do on our own.
He passed out the test papers. I stared down at it and it stared back up at me. The strange alphabet swam before my eyes. I closed them for a moment, clearing my head of distractions, trying to summon all that I had studied.
I picked up my pencil and wrote my name. "There, at least they'll know that I tried to fight."
I flipped through the pages, hoping for words that looked familiar, hoping that the extra credit would be enough, hoping that I would stay awake to finish this.
I did what I could. I wrote furiously. I did the easy parts first. "Mood: Indicative." Every time. Then I looked for the present tense. That's simple enough. I looked for nouns and verbs that I knew. I looked for prepositions.
I did what I could. I really did. I tried my best, and gave up when I knew I couldn't fight any longer.
I walked over to the professor and put the papers down in front of him, shaking my head. He'd believed in me, and I felt I'd let him down. I'd let myself down.
I walked into the hall to join my classmates. We stared at each other in shock. We'd had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We had tried. All that was left was to wait until the grades were posted.
It didn't take long. That night I checked and saw the result.
Elementary Greek I: A
I had won. I had been victorious. I had not been defeated.
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