I woke up at 6:40 this morning and realized I’d perhaps underestimated the power of time. I needed to be in the Animal Science building by 7:30, checking in as a proctor for the state math contest. By some miracle I scored one of the first spots in the Aggie Terrace parking structure—free during spring break!—and arrived at check-in around 7:20, ten minutes ahead of schedule.
Let’s just be honest up front: I expected chaos from there on. But really, the contest was pretty straightforward. When I arrived at my assigned classroom in Old Main building the other proctor (Hira) was already there, but we waited a few minutes before a custodian came to unlock the door. Schools from all over the state gradually pulled up to campus in their buses. Until 9:30, we read and chatted. (About movies and TV shows mostly.) By 9:30 all of our students had finally arrived and the testing began.
Which was also pretty straightforward. Answer questions, replace pencils, update them on time remaining—you get the idea. I basically stood at the front of the classroom and studied for my next actuarial exam (Exam FM) for two and a half hours with breaks here and there to help the students and to monitor their activity. At noon everyone remaining was forced to hand in their tests and then left for lunch in the Taggart Student Center.
Again, pretty simple. We grabbed lunch and kind of monitored the hallways to make sure the junior high and high school students weren’t damaging property or climbing on trees and such. (Which, I’m told, did happen.) Gradually the students left to their buses and we were pretty much done by about 1:30.
When we checked in this morning, I grabbed my official math contest t-shirt. Looking at it just makes you want to do some math in your spare time, doesn't it?
Awesome shirt...that's for sure.
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