the exam
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18th of February, 2024 | 18.02.2024 | unavailable on medium
The main hall of the university on open-doors day.
It was about twenty-five minutes to eight in the morning. I was standing in the cold, -30 degrees Celcius outside, and my body was shivering. The queue into the university was almost unmoving. I decided to move to the queue on the left, the one which seemed to slowly make its way inside. There were two control points connected to the fence that surrounded the enormous grounds of the university. The university is the most prestigious one in the entire country. It was only logical that almost everyone tried to get into it.
It was the day of the exam. The email said that it'd take five hours. It did. Maybe even more. No food, no cellular phones, no watches were allowed. The only thing that you needed to take was your ID and a transparent bottle of water. Bathroom breaks during the two exams were allowed, but no additional time was given.
After standing for what felt like an eternity in the cold, I finally got through the control point and quickly made my way into the university building itself. It was big, but not daunting. I had no time to take in its beauty and size, my body was trying to simply preserve itself from the cold air. Inside was another queue - this time to the cloakroom. Everything that was prohibited on the exam must be left there or in the person items room (where I'd need to stand in another queue). University volunteers guided the still-sleeping and slightly freezing people. Finally, I got past the entrance hallway and into the main building.
It was large, resembling a city with palms and fountains. Built-in apartment blocks were on each side, the ceiling was a glassy one. I walked down the slope and stood in, yet another, queue. This one moved a bit faster than the previous two. I checked-in, the volunteers made sure that I was actually registered in the exam, and then gave me a sticker with my number. Two-six-three. Then, I was guided to the waiting area in the main hallway where I finally got to meet with my friend.
I am not sure for how long we stood there. I had no phone, no watch, there were no clocks around us. I managed to get to the toilets (where you had to also stand in the queue). It was the only time in the five-hour period I got to go to the toilet. At around 9:30 we joined a queue and followed upstairs, to the third floor of one of the blocks, where the exam would take place.
Each one was seated at a separate desk with a number taped on. There laid a pencil. On one of the walls was a screen. It read: "1 hour, 0 minutes, 0 seconds." But the exam would only start at 10 am (two hours after I got to the university grounds). Even then, we got to the actual tasks at 11:10 am, after all the explanations were provided, and everybody had their exam and answer sheets given. One hour - thirty tasks in mathematics.
I am not sure I did that well. The geometry kicked my ass. But algebra was quite easy. Much easier than the sample tasks I did once. And I'm sure if I actually prepared to the exam, I'd do pretty well. But I didn't, instead I read world history for the entire two - two and a half months that I had. Welp, I can always apply to a different kind of university later. I only need to be counted as a student to avoid the military draft (yes, it is an obligation in my country; no, they won't accept me being transgender; quite frankly, I will probably be harrassed so much for being transgender by the authorities, that I'd fall into a major depressive and suicidal episode).
An hour had passed, rather quickly, and everyone immediately put down the pencils. Now was a rather long period of invigilators collecting our papers, counting them up, and readying for the second exam. I really wanted to go the toilet.
"No bathroom breaks will be allowed during the break." said the invigilator to the entire auditory. "Remember, you are still under exam conditions. Do no talk to each other."
The next exam started with a bit of a delay, at around 12 o'clock. It was critical thinking. That, I hope, I did pretty well. I had time left to check my answers and a five-minute period where I had nothing to do. I accidentaly (out of boredom) turned to one of the students beside me. I realised that it was something I was strictly prohibited to do and so I immediately turned away and put down my pencil. I hope the invigilators understood that I didn't copy anything. I couldn't see anything from their paper anyway.
Freedom came only at around 1 pm and even then, even then! we had to stand in another queue. We had to stay in a queue in order to leave the university grounds. It was made in order to prevent a mass flow of people to the cloakroom. Never in my left did I feel as a British person as much as I did then. So much waiting, so many queues. At least I could chatter with my friend then.
We left and decided to go to the shopping mall opposite the university. I finally got my freedom, and food, after having some nice pizza.
6/10 - I liked the exam and the place; too many queues; too much waiting; not enough toilet breaks. I'd like to go and do the exam again, just for fun, excluding all the hours wasted before, between, and after the two exams. The results will only arrive in around six weeks.
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