notes from the comp classroom

I'm teaching right now. Teaching and composing what is sure to be a not-so-clever-or-well-crafted-blog. But then again, not many of them are clever or well crafted. My students are furiously typing at their computers, writing stories with transitions. Vampire Weekend is playing. No heads are bobbing like mine is. I'm not sure they get the subtle but total awesomeness of this band. When I'm not in this classroom, I can think of little else than my impending Comprehensive Exam and this is why this time period is my only opportunity to post an entry here.

I've gone through some pretty drastic hills and valleys with this whole Comp Exam thing (see this). During the weeks after NYC, I was so paralyzed (from what is too big a subject to even mention here) to even begin to think about them. Overly dramatic, yes, but also true. Then, a week out from the date, full panic mode. Enough to...guess what?...paralyze me with anxiety and get nothing done preparation-wise. Then yesterday, 4 days away from what is possibly the biggest exam in my life (an exam I need to pass to have these last 3 years in Minnesota and even the whole of my academic career count for something), 4 days before the Saturday this exam will be held, I decided on the 6 books I am going to write about. This should have been done months ago. Drafts of essays should have been written and re-written by now. I should be in memorization mode so that when I show up at 9:00for the exam, I can sit down at the computer and regurgitate prose with little trouble. Unfortunately this is not the case because I'm a bum. An anxious, denial-prone bum.

After class I'll make final corrections to BER before the issue is sent to the printer. Then from noon today until 9:30 Saturday morning, it'll be all Comps with breaks to eat and sleep for no more than 4 hours at a time.

I'm a bum.