Feeling Final Exams

Exams are like roller coasters. Finals in particular. In the time leading up to one, it’s hard to process what’s going to happen. I can mentally prepare but it’s hard to tell if anything I do will help.  I try to occupy myself with anything that helps time pass. This is waiting in line. Looking for distractions so I don’t sike myself out. As I get closer to the front of the line, it gets harder to find distractions, and the situation still hasn’t really kicked in. I take my seat in the classroom. Even as I lock myself in by pulling the bar down to my lap, it’s impossible to know for certain what will happen next. As the cart goes up that first big hill, I know there’s nothing that can stop what happens next so panicking is just a waste of energy. The professor is passing out the exam and I am picking up my pencil. Right as the cart goes over the peak, there is a second where I can get a good look at the track, right before it speeds up, I finally know if I’m going to be okay or not. That’s the feeling I get when I flip the exam's cover page and read the first question. Even if it goes poorly, at least the uncertainty of the event is over when I walk out.