OK, enough with the quizzes

I suddenly realized that four posts in a row were me taking tests I knew I could pass with flying colors (i.e. I took them for the hell of it and got results I felt like sharing). So let's talk about tests, shall we?

I don't always march to same beat as everyone else, so those of you who find finals hell on earth should stop reading now.

I can honestly say that tests don't bother me. I like tests. Tests are fun. Tests can sometimes be frustrating right then and there, but I don't spend the night before a test studying for it, or tossing and turning in my sleep. A bit of nerves, perhaps, on the day itself, but once I've grabbed that #2 pencil (or these days, the mouse), I'm fine. In school, I discovered that if I did all my homework, I wouldn't have to cram for tests. I also discovered that my brain doesn't do cramming very well ("You want me to remember all this for the next 24 hours after ignoring it for 24 weeks? Yeah, right.") and since neither it nor I function without a good night's sleep, I'd rather be rested before being tested.

I should be a bit more specific: I like those multiple choice tests, and IQ tests and the goofy quizzes littering blogdom. I take surveys, I fill out forms, I check off all that apply. Heck, I even enjoy voting because it's like a multiple choice test. The hardest tests I've had to take were one in archeology in college because that teacher didn't do multiple choice ("You mean I have to organize what I know into complete sentences and paragraphs???"), and a chemistry test in high school. That chemistry test was one I dreaded. I was ill-prepared, but got out of it by fainting in the bathroom one morning. Turns out I, at age 17, had finally managed to get chicken pox. Two weeks home in bed, and then back to school and a make-up test in chemistry. I got a C. If memory serves, I got a B on the archeology test.

You didn't know I was interested in archeology, did you. It's a cool science; it involves enthusiastically digging around in someone else's garbage, trying to figure out what everything was for. I'm absolutely tickled by the idea that humans have been slobs our entire existence. I'm also fascinated by our existence-long relationship with death, and our general ingenuity. What made me lose interest in becoming an archeologist was the thought of using tiny little brushes to move a square mile of dirt. And chemistry is something I bother with only when the drain is clogged.