Critter Comix Week 2 !

Every exam follows the same cycle.

Tomorrow is my Orgo II exam, and I’m losing it. Truly. My brain is just one big carbonyl at this point. I’ll look at a cloud and think, “Is that nucleophilic addition?” Every surface has become a reaction mechanism waiting to happen. I swear, if I see one more oxygen double-bonded to carbon, I might spontaneously combust into an ester.

There’s a very specific emotional cycle that happens around exams. Before the test: panic. During the test: deeper panic, but quiet, because you’re trying not to breathe too loud in case it scares away the last three functioning neurons you have left. But after the test? A feeling you wouldn’t trade anything for.

For that glorious window of time right after you turn it in (before you remember grades exist) you’re the freest you’ll ever be. It’s like your brain just got released from academic prison. You don’t even have to think you did well; the simple act of not having to think at all feels transcendent. You could stare at a wall for three hours and call it meditation.

And honestly, it makes me wonder, do normal people, like, feel that way all the time? Is this what toddlers experience daily? Just… peace? No looming specter of carbonyls hovering over their heads? Must be nice.

Twenty-four hours from now, I’ll still be spiraling into existential dread over my exam, but give it thirty, and I’ll be free. Until then, keep me in your prayers, and maybe get me some more flashcards.