A certain awkwardness accompanies tests. If you're like me, and know everything there ever was to know about absolutely anything, you probably finished all the tests first in school. However, Elementary School teachers got it in their heads that it was a good idea to say, "first done probably does bad! Don't rush it!" You'd start to get up to pass in the test, then you'd think better of it and sit down. After all, you wouldn't want anyone to think that you're a nerd or something, and you probably missed something, because there's no way you did that well. The teacher's words float around in your head.
So you sit.
You sit and stare at the packet in front of you, neatly stapled in the top-left corner, and wait for the other kids to finish. They don't. You leaf through it, pretending to check your work, but you're really thinking about other things. This goes on for a while, and then you notice that other kids are looking around the room with that nervous look on their face, too. They're finished too, but they don't dare hand in the test, lest they provoke the spirits and fail the test entirely because they were the first one done. Fifteen minutes later, someone breaks and passes the test in. You still try not to get up - you don't want to seem too eager. But once that kid's gets back to his seat the time is right. You snap. So does everyone else. That's when the magic happens. A natural phenomenon seen only in a school classroom. Everyone rushes to the front, freed from the constraints of test-done-ness, eager to drop the finished test like a burning piece of coal. The tests are now "in". It's over. You breathe a sigh of relief and laugh at the dumb kid that's not done yet. Later, you try to convince your friends that you were actually the first one done.
But what about those bad tests? We all have those moments - up all night studying (not that I need to study) but none of it sticks. You decide to go through and do what you know, but it's no use. You stare down at your paper. One hundred point test, but all you can do is five. Well, shit. Soon, the test-completion phenomenon occurs and you feel the pressure. You feel naked. Everyone's staring at you. "One minute left."
Shit. Goodbye, GPA.