And so I'm back...from outer space...

[annwfyn]

Exam over.

Oxford don't allow you to take water into an exam, apparently. You get your writing implements, university card and the hat.

University is now finished until October.

2/3 of my Masters is done.

It's odd. I don't feel as jubilant or as bouncy as I thought I would. I'm just feeling tired, and weirdly tearful. A bit of me wants to say 'is that it? All that work, all that effort, and what does it come down to? Me sitting in a room for three hours in a stupid robe thinking about how much my hand hurts and how sore my throat it.'

I think it's come down from having been wound up for so long. Now I just feel tired and a bit icky. I've got a week to go before I leave for Australia, and gods, I'm looking forward to that. I want to get away from all of this. I want to clear my head out and work out what's worth worrying about and what's just so much crap.

Exam over.

I said that already, didn't I?

I think now would be a good time for me to go home...

Comments

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Don't forget that in traditional Exams, they often have a surprise attack by ninjas afterwards. Or possibly a giant snake.

It helps keep you on your toes and gives you more of a sense of climax.

You are a bright and clever Sally and will feel more bouncy about it being over when you've rested. Or done the breast stroke.

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

You had to wear a gown to do your exam? Awesome!

Aside from that, well done.

[suave-steve.livejournal.com]

Go home, relax, forget it.

[wildrogue.livejournal.com]

Congrats hun. You'll feel better after a day or two of complete crashed out rest. Do nothing, ignore any books heavier in content than Harry Potter, eat ice cream and generally lounge about. You deserve it.

[jo-english-bint.livejournal.com]

Oxford don't allow you to take water into an exam....

simply appaling. especially in this heat!

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Also odd - I don't remember that from my exams.

You may well not have been allowed to take bottles of water into the exam, but I'm sure you could stick your hand up & ask an invigilator for a glass of water.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

It's possible that sticking hand up and asking would have been allowed - I don't know. It wasn't something we were told was possible. The announcement at the beginning of the exam just said 'no bottles of water', and then said that toilet breaks were aloud if one raised one's hand to attract the attention of an invigilator.

It's also possible that the water thing is new/departmental/due to an insane invigilator. The chief invigilator also muttered darkly at me for not wearing tights and wearing sandals. Apparently full academic dress should look slightly more formal all the way down, which I also thought was a little picky.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Yep, sub-fusc:

Dark suit, white shirt, white bow tie for blokes; dark skirt/trousers, white shirt/blouse, black ribbon in a bow for women - plus academic gown & mortar board (or cap for the few women who choose to still go for the traditional women's alternative - most go for the mortarbpard though)

Carnations/buttonholes aren't a formal part of sub-fusc, but they are usually worn for exams, because it's a quick way of identifying who's still got exams to go - white for first exam/first day, pink for the middle ones, and red for the last exam/last day. Since people can get barred from taking exams if they don't turn up in the right kit, and people have a tendency to get a bit boisterous with throwing things at folks as they finish exams, it's useful to be able to identify whether there's anyone around who should be kept out of firing range, as it were...

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Actually, technically you could get thrown out *for* wearing tights - it clearly specifies stockings, IIRC. Never heard of anyone actually checking the dress code that far though!

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

You know, I think some of that is an undergrad thing. Not entirely sure why, but undergrads seem to get into that kind of thing a lot more. The archaeology lot I had exams with all wandered in without a carnation between the lot of them.

Oh - on another note - what do the gowns with sleeves mean? I've seen a couple around and I can't figure it out.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I think that there may be some murmuring about not letting Doctor Libido supervise exams if someone did decide to start seriously checking such things!

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Different gown designs refer to different levels of academia. I think the ones you're talking about are Scholar's gowns, which you get to wear if you get a First in your first-year exams. Might be a graduate gown though.

In a lot of colleges, if you're a Scholar, you're expected to be on a rota to read grace at Formal Hall, and do other faintly school-prefecty things.

Oh, and you're presumably expected to bring your own blotting paper to exams, since you lose the 'ribbons' (the random useless looking tails that hang off the shoulders) of a plain undergrad gown, which are in fact apparently there for the purpose of blotting ink ;)

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Well, yes - if you don't have a whole series of exams, there's little point differentiating between first & last ;)

Also, to be honest, a lot of grad students don't get involved in so much of the student culture as the undergrads, so they may be blithely underaware/unbothered by the tradition.