Night Before (The Qual)

It’s been a long few months. I’ve been studying every weekend – spending Saturdays on the fourth floor of the library among the eastern religions section, studying thermo and looking out the windows at the mountains. Sundays were practice qual day. We did four of them, Elan, Jake and I. Early on, Wednesdays were study night at Anna’s, but then we broke up. Over the summer, I read thermal and quantum to try to get ready early. In the fall, I started studying with Travis and Jake, working on old qual problem and Lim solutions. Eventually that fell apart because of our different study styles, though.

My companions have been David Griffith’s, Marian and Thornton, Schroeder and his thermal book, and Lim. We spent a lot of nights together. I also had some help from a buddy who got me some meds to study with.

It’s been a long stretch, man, of days and nights filled with equations. My writing has fallen by the wayside and my personal relationships have suffered. I’ve kept off facebook and off reddit, only dropping in when I’m eating lunch. I’ve stopped playing Minecraft and most other games, though I put some time into Deus Ex recently. I had to do something to relax after studying.

This past week, I’ve been meditating, laying off the drinking and smoking, and getting into the physics building early – around 8:30. I’m just trying to get into the right mindset for the exam. I’ve drank more coffee than in the rest of my life combined, probably.

Finally, tonight, I couldn’t really do anymore. I read some of “The Sirens of Titan,” then put about an hour into Griffith’s E&M before I realized I couldn’t study a line more. I knew how to do the problems. I might still be making some mistakes, but I knew the methods, damnit.

We’ve all decided to keep quiet after the exam after it’s over. At least, that is, until the results come in. Mistakes will happen. Tough problems will come at us. But it’s not use mourning our errors over the weekend. We have part two on Monday. Then, and only then, when it’s all over and done with, we can at least relax. Wednesday the results will hit. Then we’ll know.

I feel alright. Jake and I watched Rocky tonight for a little motivation and now I’m kicking back with an herbal tea and getting ready for bed. It’s almost 10 and I need some rest before the big day.