Exam fail.

Today was the first exam.  My first one ever as a graduate student.  As a student seeking a Masters in Public Health with a focus on Environmental Health, taking a class in Human Toxicology seems an obvious requisite for the first semester.  Accordingly, taking a test on the subject matter contained in that course makes sense in theory but much less so in practice.  I used my favorite pencil, an amazing gift from a good friend.

The thing is, barely any lead (graphite) was expended on this exam.  My heart started racing as soon as I started walking to the classroom.  I couldn't remember anything once I sat down.  I cannot remember the last time I had literally no words to write in response to something.

I spent the afternoon looking at blogs where folks talked about how they were worried about failing out of graduate school and other websites about when I would have to start paying back my loans if I had to withdraw.  It's too fast and too much money, so I guess I'll stay here.