Sometimes it's luck.

[cjsmith]

Monday: chem test. Didn't finish. Spent a bunch of time agonizing over one of the four-point multiple choice questions, wherein all answers seemed ludicrous, and lost track of the fact I had skipped over one of the longer nine-point show-work problems. Scribbled a pile of math for that one in the last three minutes of the exam. Time was called before I got to an answer.

Today: got test back. Was hoping everything else was correct, so that I'd get at worst an 87. I was stunned to see that I got a 99. The multiple choice NEARLY TOTAL GUESS turned out to be correct, and I lost only a point for not doing the last line or two of calculations in that one problem I had barely had time to set up.

Sometimes, I swear, it's just plain luck.

Comments

[ambar.livejournal.com]

That ain't luck, it's work. :-)

[anisoptera.livejournal.com]

What she said. You studied and "made your own luck".

Congrats!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The other 87% was work. :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Send some of that this way. :-)

Ya done good!

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

First rule of successful test taking. Whip through the multiple choice you know the answers to first. Next up? Short answer questions and anything else that requires structuring thought and writing down your answers. Then back to the multiple choice you're not sure of and work from there.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Glad to. In another week I'll be done with it, and you can have the whole bundle!

Re: Ya done good!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Second rule of successful test taking: don't forget ya skipped one. (sheepish look)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's true too; I studied hard for this one. But those last twelve points were a (well-appreciated!) bonus from the Universe.

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

I agree with everyone else. The last 4 points may have been luck, but everything else was hard work. Congratulations!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, so were the other eight. This prof could have said that my scribbles made no sense or didn't contain units or ... anything, really. In the past, that's been her mode: take off any points she can think of for anything she can find. This time she chose to dock me only one point for failure to complete the calculation, and I'm sure that means she must have been in a VERY good mood.

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

Well, it is always a good thing if your professor has a nice glass of wine or sees a favorite movie or spends some quality time with a significant other before sitting down to grade exams. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I only wish I could guarantee that EVERY time! I suppose it's tacky to enroll one's professor in a wine club.

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

Haha. Probably so. But I would have tried it back in the day if I'd thought of it!