Today at 10h00 I was scheduled to take my final exam: oral expression, an exam designed to test our ability to analyze a test and create a well-organized argument from it.
So 10h00 found me sitting in the back of a classroom reading a recent news article about the changes in French diets caused by snacking and trying my best to think of all the possible reasons why I should care a whit about this. What I ended up scribbling on my little piece of paper was neither coherent nor deserving of any merit and I ended up sitting in front my my proctor without looking at the paper and not really caring at all.
This is surprising, or at least it should be. In Richmond I am normally the first student to start biting my nails three weeks after the start of the semester and wondering if I've already made some irreparable slip that will cause my grade to fall. But here it's all different. No one is expected to be perfect and as long as I get a 10 in my classes I will receive credit for them. It's strange to think that such a little thing could change my entire attitude toward something but it's allowed me to take from each of my classes without really worrying that I'll forget to take some insignificant and minute note that will determine an entire letter grade.
This exam means nothing but possibly allowing me to receive a paper saying that I successfully completed niveau 5 of the IRFFLE program - a piece of paper that is sadly meaningless outside of the university here and one that, I hear, is quite easy to get. So what's the point in stressing it all?
Besides, even if there was a point, it's all over now and I can't rewrite any of it. And I still don't care a whit about the changing eating patterns of French students.
So 10h00 found me sitting in the back of a classroom reading a recent news article about the changes in French diets caused by snacking and trying my best to think of all the possible reasons why I should care a whit about this. What I ended up scribbling on my little piece of paper was neither coherent nor deserving of any merit and I ended up sitting in front my my proctor without looking at the paper and not really caring at all.
This is surprising, or at least it should be. In Richmond I am normally the first student to start biting my nails three weeks after the start of the semester and wondering if I've already made some irreparable slip that will cause my grade to fall. But here it's all different. No one is expected to be perfect and as long as I get a 10 in my classes I will receive credit for them. It's strange to think that such a little thing could change my entire attitude toward something but it's allowed me to take from each of my classes without really worrying that I'll forget to take some insignificant and minute note that will determine an entire letter grade.
This exam means nothing but possibly allowing me to receive a paper saying that I successfully completed niveau 5 of the IRFFLE program - a piece of paper that is sadly meaningless outside of the university here and one that, I hear, is quite easy to get. So what's the point in stressing it all?
Besides, even if there was a point, it's all over now and I can't rewrite any of it. And I still don't care a whit about the changing eating patterns of French students.
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