I finally gave my 1st Professional Examination! It hasn't ended though. It began about a month back ( 28th July 2009 to be precise...) and I still have my practicals to tackle.
For some reason our college and university is highly disorganized. Dates keep changing, results take two- two and a half months to come out... the list of complaints go on.
We were all pretty freaked out before the 1st paper - Anatomy Paper I. All of us slept early ( ok that implies only to the morning people, the night persons stayed up all night obviously ) , woke up early , had a good meals , revised as much as we could, sharpened our colour pencils , changed the refills of our pens, had a bath in the morning ( completely forgot to mention that! ) and tried to relax in the last 15 mins.
To add to the complaints about the college/university, we were called on the day of the first paper at 10 in the morning to collect our hall tickets!
So we all left at 1:30pm in search of the new room in the college building that would be used as our examination hall. On the leaving the hostel, we were given a little amount of dahi (curd). I remember ma always would give me dahi prior to the examination. I would irritate her by accusing her of following superstitions but then she'd defend herself by giving a scientific explanation, saying "No. Curd cools the stomach so that you can give your exam in a cool state of mind" Being a huge follower science, I believed her. It does make sense, but I still believe most people do it for the sake of superstitions.
We entered the college from the back entrance and to our sweet surprise, we found small little papers stuck on the walls directing us to the examination hall. Finding it wasn't very difficult mentally but it sure was physically! Turns out the room was on the 3rd floor! That wasn't the only difficulty we had to face! Since the room hadn't been used for a year, the air conditioning needed repair and servicing.
So, we climbed 3 floors and entered a room that not only had broken AC's but was not built with proper ventilation. Here is an advise to all constructors - please please please make sure there are large windows and fans in rooms that primarily run on AC's in case of emergencies like so...
The room was very big, accommodated all 100 students, had 4 columns of 2 seater benches and obviously 12-14 rows. Ok I guess you didn't have to know so much detail.
So the first paper went smoothly. Like all the papers that followed, there were questions that were damn easy and expected and questions that were damn easy, unexpected and could've been written in a better way!
Most of us relaxed that evening and got back to studies the next morning. There were 3 days break between each paper.
So, the night before my Anatomy Paper II ( 1st August 2009), I got really tensed and I was advised by dad to go to bed. So I did and woke up very early.
I got out of bed at around 5:30am, not very shocked to find all my block mates' rooms lights ( most of them are night persons) I proceeded to brush my teeth. As I was wondering what it is that I would revise, I heard one of the girls screaming. I assumed one of the girls was having a bad dream and her roommate was trying to console her. But the screaming didn't stop, so I left the bathroom and moved towards the room I thought the noise was coming from but then the girls of that room ran out and moved to one my close friends room. I ran in before she could to find 2 of my friends holding and screaming to my third friend whose body was twitching and rigid and face was twisted in pain and her eyes! God her eyes looked upwards and she looked like she was possessed! I couldn't stand the sight and ran out. Realizing what was happening to her immediately I told everyone around that she was having a fit and ran around the hostel with few other of my block mates to call the mini-wardens and doctor.
I couldn't go back in to look at her. I was too freaked out. I began to wonder whether I am fit to be a doctor and see so much pain.
The doctor came. Obviously there isn't anything one can do when someone is in a seizure. They waited till it was over and the doctor advised that she should get scans done and her parents called. Her roomie took her to the hospital along with one of the mini-wardens
When she returned to consciousness, she had mild amnesia - which obviously freaked us out, for heavens sake! we had our professional exam to give that day! Anyway she remember later about the day but she had no clue what had happened to her. To avoid another, we didn't tell her anything till after the exam and that too, only because we realized her parents weren't believing us when we told them about the incident.
The after effects of the seizure were physical pains of the patient and mental pains for her roommate! Now her roomie makes my roomie sleep with her at night because she is very paranoid.
So, everything went back to normal after a few days and life continued.
10 days later we gave our Physiology Paper II ( paper I went by uneventfully...) . We relaxed the same way in evening and went to bed a little late. The minute I went to bed, I felt my bed vibrate. I twisted around thinking maybe I had eaten less and I was just getting dizzy. When the vibration didn't stop, I got scared! I jumped out of bed and slapped the lights on. I was terrified that there was a ghost under my bed! Then I heard another one of my blockmates complaining ( ok fine... screaming) about the same sensations and felt relieved that it wasn't a ghost or a mental disorder of mine! :D It was a minor earthquake. On stepping into the corridor I noticed the whole hostel was running out with their ears jammed into their ears calling their families ( or boyfriends... :P ) and narrating the tale. W e roamed in front of the hostel ( giving the boys a nice midnight view of girls in their nighties :D ) for a 10-15 mins n returned in. Then people said i would occur again in a larger intensity and we should be outside and not in the hostel. But the mini-wardens refused and half the hostel stood in the sweaty stuff lobby. I went back to my room and after being informed by my roomie that she wouldn't be sleeping I went to bed.
On researching the next day, I found out that there was an earthquake in Andaman and Nicobar Islands ( 7.4 on the scale - if not mistaken) and it extended across the eastern coast of India.
Then came my Biochem paper on 14th August. We all reached there on time and we were told that the papers and the externals had not arrived yet due to traffic jams caused because of the rain. So we were made to wait for a whole torturous 45 mins before we got our papers. Truly the paper was made to test our "biochemistry". They were all conceptual questions and none of the mugging cycles!
Rumour has it that the papers where actually leaked and they set a whole new one for us.. thus the conceptual questions. Just a rumour... ( Let me inform you though most rumours here turn out to be true.. :D )
Right now the practicals, that were supposed to end on the 28th, have got postponed and will end on the 1oth. I have 3 more weeks before I return home and enjoy a tension and study free vacation!! Can't wait! :D
This was sure a very eventful (examination) month, huh?
:)
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