round 1
2009-11-11 8:17 p.m.
1 down, 6 million more to go.
examiners are sadistic this year.
j2s doing the TYS next year will go 'WHAT IS THIS?' and imagine the horror of us poor souls this year who were confronted with this paper.
but luckily - ahem, 'luckily' - for me the paper was only my second shock because i was - horror of horrors! - almost LATE for the paper.
when, at 1.55, my physical body was still not in school for the 2pm paper despite my thoughts having arrived a long time ago (unfortunately i dont think that counted), i had to practice extreme calm to keep my pulse down.
because ultimately what penalizes almost-latecomers are nerves and hyperventilation rather than the almost-lateness itself.
so i tried breathing in on 3 counts and breathing out in 5, even whilst traffic was snailing along like nobody's business and the time ticked on mercilessly.
i even tried holding my breath because time always seems to pass so slowly when you do that.
it didnt really work and i almost fainted instead, what with nerves + no oxygen together.
and, in a vicious twist, my nerves made me forget where my exam venue was despite shuqiao having told me 10 minutes ago.
so i had to run around school like a mad chicken first checking my venue and then looking for the classroom.
the nerves do a lot.
i forgot where block 4 was and what 424 stands for.
so i barged into the wrong classroom.
oh talk about panic, you havent experienced it yet till you find out you're in the wrong classroom 2 minutes before the exam of your life starts.
and whats worse, have no idea where the stupid right classroom is.
when i FINALLY got to the right classroom and the exam started, i took one look at the paper and thought 'oh, %#*(@&%#*@(.'
but it ended with a rather calm full stop rather than a !!!!!! because my heart couldnt take any greater shock anymore.
neurons were fatigued from previous round of action potentials being fired in such close succession.
so i was actually able to do the question after making myself breathe normally again, which was a godsend because i later realized few others managed the 'oh, %#@&*(%&@#' question.
i dont recommend you try this method though, it shaves years off your life.
well taa.
