Today was the day of the exam I’m in charge of which meant I felt as if I was about to go on stage to do some acting. I felt this way because of past problems. Of course, there were delays which led to a minor mistake and then there was a delay that started feelings of panic and made the pre-performance feeling even stronger.

(Note: If you’ve never done acting or paced around in a locker room before a big match, the feeling you get right before things start is a feeling in your gut that leaves you confused about whether or not you need to pee, poop, or puke. You need to do one, but can’t decide which is about to happen. You therefore have to keep pacing, lest one of them happen immediately.)

The day started with a delay as a major train line was down and that pushed all exams back an hour. I misread the email and I thought mine would start at the regular time because it was after lunch. I arrived at the right time and panicked when the sound technician didn’t arrive. I was quickly informed about my mistake and then tried to relax for an hour until my exam.

Then, when it was actually time for my exam, the sound technician arrived with only a few minutes to spare, putting me in a panic again.

Luckily, he had time to do a sound check and the listening went off without any problems.

I’m only just now managing to relax, though.