While I (apparently) have no problems being ‘heard’ on-line, it seems that off-line some people tend to go deaf around me. To make things even worse, this of COURSE happens when it is rather important to be heard.
Take today for instance.

Me: Hello. I understood that if I have a Cambridge certificate in English I do not need to take the exam. I have Cambridge Advanced with grade B.

Secretary: Which level?

Me: Advanced…

Secretary: Well of COURSE, but which *gestures wildly* level?
Me: B … *mumbles* I said this already.

Aside this, I assume that knowing that B is the grade and not the level is out of question for the lady… I mean she did look over 50. What more could I possibly expect from her?

Contrary to how it might (OK: DOES) sound, I am not trying to motivate myself to go on after some sort of tragedy: just stating a fact. Some of you might (not) have wondered, so I thought I’d calm you.

On a more reason-for-blogging account, I’ve noticed a rather extreme tendency in procrastination. Just consider the following example:

Vera stares at her “school” folder.

Me (thinking): Oh no! I have 3 labs to complete.

Vera opens her “Gravitation fanfiction” folder and flips through some files.

Me (thinking): I’m so bored…
Vera happily opens laptop to watch some anime.

Of course, as a loyal follower of the strutz policy¹ I ignore the nagging voices in the back of my mind which all but scream: “ARE YOU MENTAL?!”

So yeah: I keep on living.

¹ Also known as the stick-your-head-into-sand policy;
i.e. ignore unpleasant things and hope that unpleasant things will ignore you as well.

Unlike most students, seniors are a special category. On top of being ‘regular’ students, they generally get quite a few other exams dumped over them, on account of… well them being seniors: you’re grown up now, so we can safely dump another load on top of you without feeling guilty. Isn’t that just great?

Keeping this in mind, it comes as no surprise that some ground rules should be established. Since most people have enough intuition, these are not written down. For those of you unaware, read and remember:

1. Thou shall state your request clearly to seniorsSeniors have enough guesswork expecting them at the end of the year, and as such you do NOT offer them more. Your subject is not only not required for their licentiate exam, but it’s also optional.
2. Thou do NOT wish to challenge seniorsHaving to re-learn carefully skipped/forgotten (depending on their luck) subjects is challenging enough, without needing more. As a result, unless you’re harboring some sort of death wish (you never know when a voo-doo doll crosses their paths), it is advised not to challenge seniors.
3. Thou shall not hold an introductory course which lasts 3 weeks…especially if the exam is not going to include said introduction.
4. Thou shall not speak about irrelevant biological developments during said course(s)…not even if the terminology of the course is inspired by this field.
5. Thou shall NOT expect answers to unformulated questions…seniors (or any student for that matter) have trouble answering ‘proper’ questions, so don’t torture them unnecessarily; you might piss them off… R-O-Y-A-L-L-Y.

If you feel you’ve put your senior students through all the above, don’t be surprised if your students get restless in the last few seconds of the lecture and answer their phone, and conducting a mock whispered conversation.

No really: we - seniors - don’t find you funny, not even a LITTLE bit.