So I did it. Let me tell you the tale.
I started at 2:00PM on Thursday, leaving me 25 hours for 2751 words. I actually stuck to my thesis this time, though that may be or may not be a good thing. It was just an analysis of the themes of Gulliver’s Travels and Voltaire’s Candide. Advocating a middle road, blah blah, Christian perfectionism, ridicule of rationalism, yadda yadda yadda. I really don’t want to ever have to think about it again.
I worked straight through 14 hours and 1966 words before I ran out of will power to keep my eyes open. It turns out my earlier graph was pretty much correct, as I (intermittantly) recorded my progress.
Several brief hours later, at 7:02AM, I’m in my skivvies frantically shoving my laptop into my backpack while Schmitz impatiently idles in the driveway. At 7:21, I run franticly into school holding my secrets to success: a box of oatmeal breakfast bars and a caffeine delivery system (otherwise known as a bottle of Bawls) that Schmitz found frozen in his car.
My game plan was this: since there was no Chem Lab final and attendance was not required, I was going to take the Psych exam 8th period instead of 5th so that I could perform before my body realized it was tired. The caffeine and, if necessary, sugar boost of the oatmeal bars would keep me going enough to finish the 700 words required for an ‘A’ by 3:00PM.
Dumping all my stuff in the psych room, I asked Mrs. A if I could check in with Cassidy for 8th period (since I couldn’t get called out). She did what teachers rarely do: looked me straight in the eye and said, “run”. In seconds, I and my wet shoes were out of that classroom making squeaks with each step. (The shoes were, not me.) I did a really cool powerslide around a corner that I’m disappointed that no one saw. When I got to Cassidy, it turns out no words needed to be said. I only needed to make eye contact before he nodded.
When I got up to room 215, I prepared for the 100-question test by taking a deep swig of the Bawls. The thing was, since it was frozen in the car, the solutes precipitated out of the solid water component. Basically I slurped a layer of super-concentrated super-caffeinated syrup. DAMN! It’s like being punched in the amygdala. I blazed through the test in 60 minutes and secured my ‘A’ (only six wrong answers more and I would have gotten a ‘B’).
I then set up shop (laptop + books) in the Writing Well, where I put out another 300 words but began to feel the effects of the three hours of sleep catch up to me. After the bell rang and the day ended for everyone else, I moved to room 157 where I finished and had it proofread. I ran the final copy down to V’s office at 2:25 with 35 minutes to spare. I also found out I got an A- on the exam. This doesn’t help much since V couldn’t care less for mygradebook. So there are now two class grades not yet solidified. Cassidy still has to grade the Chem lab final and V has an essay that determines my grade. But, oh, the joys of freedom! The impulses… so much… so fast. It’s glorious! I think… I think I’ll shoot some Nazis. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.
V told you your test grade? Why can’t he simply punch in our grades online I mean cummon~!!
You should have stayed in the writing well, I was there after band rehearsal doing exactally what you were doing, although I finished much faster than you did.
I hear Ian enjoyed your car ride home.
p.s. At about 1:50 AM you were pretty 1337.