We walked down the brick path. I clutched my pencil and rubber in my hand. A musicianship exam was something new to me. Piano exams I knew about, but musicianship exams were something else entirely. What would it be like?
I waved my family off, and waited outside the door to the exam room. Other people straggled up. We went into the room together.
"Please find your tables," the lady in charge told us. We did as she said, setting our pencils and rubbers up on the tabletops and making sure we were as ready as possible.
Five out of the ten tables were still empty as we began the ten minute reading period. A school girl came in as we scanned our papers.
Four out of the five girls appeared before the exam started. "Where's the last one?" the lady in charge asked.
"I think she's gone skiing," one of the other girls volunteered.
I was very surprised. She had missed an exam to go skiing? Unbelievable!
"You can now start."
We snatched up our pencils and started marking in answers. Half an hour slipped by. Suddenly I was at the end of my paper. There was still an hour left to go before I could leave. Sighing I flipped back through the paper. Maybe I could re-compose the melody? That took a few minutes, but soon I was finished again.
The clock still said we had forty five minutes to go. I checked through my answers, then checked the clock. And checked the answers again. The minutes crawled past ever so slowly. Now everyone was finished. Some people put their heads down on the tables and appeared to go to sleep. Others stared off into space. I watched the clock and wondered what my sisters were doing.
"Ten minutes to go."
I checked through my paper one last time. The minute hand inched round. Out of the window I saw Mum and the girls arrive. Then suddenly we were free to go.
"We had chocolate milk and biscuits for afternoon tea," Gemma-Rose announced.
"Did you save me some?"
"Of course!"
"We're going to go to the park," Mum said.
We piled in the van and drove to the park. Once the chocolate milk was drunk and the biscuits were eaten, we ran off to play. Gemma-Rose wanted to play on the swings. Sophie wanted to play ships. We all ended up on the see-saw.
"Time to go home!" Mum called at last. We straggled back to the van.
"How was the exam?" she asked.
"Fine. Boring. I don't think I'm much bothered about exams. They're not as bad as piano exams. But soooooo boring."
I waved my family off, and waited outside the door to the exam room. Other people straggled up. We went into the room together.
"Please find your tables," the lady in charge told us. We did as she said, setting our pencils and rubbers up on the tabletops and making sure we were as ready as possible.
Five out of the ten tables were still empty as we began the ten minute reading period. A school girl came in as we scanned our papers.
Four out of the five girls appeared before the exam started. "Where's the last one?" the lady in charge asked.
"I think she's gone skiing," one of the other girls volunteered.
I was very surprised. She had missed an exam to go skiing? Unbelievable!
"You can now start."
We snatched up our pencils and started marking in answers. Half an hour slipped by. Suddenly I was at the end of my paper. There was still an hour left to go before I could leave. Sighing I flipped back through the paper. Maybe I could re-compose the melody? That took a few minutes, but soon I was finished again.
The clock still said we had forty five minutes to go. I checked through my answers, then checked the clock. And checked the answers again. The minutes crawled past ever so slowly. Now everyone was finished. Some people put their heads down on the tables and appeared to go to sleep. Others stared off into space. I watched the clock and wondered what my sisters were doing.
"Ten minutes to go."
I checked through my paper one last time. The minute hand inched round. Out of the window I saw Mum and the girls arrive. Then suddenly we were free to go.
"We had chocolate milk and biscuits for afternoon tea," Gemma-Rose announced.
"Did you save me some?"
"Of course!"
"We're going to go to the park," Mum said.
We piled in the van and drove to the park. Once the chocolate milk was drunk and the biscuits were eaten, we ran off to play. Gemma-Rose wanted to play on the swings. Sophie wanted to play ships. We all ended up on the see-saw.
"Time to go home!" Mum called at last. We straggled back to the van.
"How was the exam?" she asked.
"Fine. Boring. I don't think I'm much bothered about exams. They're not as bad as piano exams. But soooooo boring."
Exams bring back bad memories for me, so it's great to see that you take it all in your stride. Good luck with the results, Immy!
ReplyDeleteApparently the results take months to come back so I'm not holding my breath. To tell the truth, I'm just glad that they're over so I can get back to doing normal things again.
ReplyDelete