When you have one thing and one thing only on your mind, no matter how small and insignificant that thing may be, you find that nothing else can worm its way in and stick. And so you are pretty much an empty shell for the entirety of the day and all your efforts to complete any other task are utterly wasted.
Usually I would say that this is extremely frustrating and just antagonises the original problem that had completely engulfed your mind in the first place. However, today, I am rather thankful for my absent-mindedness; why? Because I have to meet with a jolly old lecturer who decided to fail my assignment. I'm a fairly laid back individual and when I read the mark I received yesterday, it was so absurdly low that I laughed and assumed it was a mistake (I had already spoken with 5 other university friends who were in a similar situation. The organisational skills of my particular university leave a lot to be desired.). So off I went to my lecturer to find out what my 'correct' result was only to be met by 'Aw, yes, 1066 girl, I was wondering when you'd be here to pick up your failed assignment.' (1066 girl is unfortunately not my usual nickname, alas. I just happen to complete my history assignment on a 'Year 2 history project' looking at...ten points if you guessed it 'The Battle of Hastings'. Well done, you). I was not expecting that the mark to be the correct one. What on God's green earth!?
Please do not presume I am an intellectual snob that expects a first in all that I do. One, I didn't get my arse to university until I was 23, two, I am severely dyslexic and three, I am doing teaching. (If I silly enough to inform you of my choice in university I would be able to add 'and four, I'm studying at blah, blah, blah, university) However, the grade I received was so low that I couldn't help but think it had to be some sort of computing error that seem to be the only thing my university excels at. Standing in a doorway in front of your lecturer realising that you have missed the point of your assignment so entirely that you assume a grade is a mistake is not a good feeling to have, let me tell you. But my lecturer was all smiles and pleasantries, so I thought, 'ok, as annoying as this is, at least I can now find out exactly where I went wrong'. If I have just misunderstood, then it'll be easy to redo once I know what I am meant to do. However, remaining in the doorway for a further ten minutes my confusion was not helped one iota. My lecturer read and reread her notes and could not tell me what I had missed that would find me with such a dismal mark.
In my opinion, if you going to fail someone by such a huge amount, then it really ought to be for something other than 'er, perhaps you need to organise it in a slightly different manner?' She was so unsure of herself and her mark that she asked if she could reread the entire thing and reconvene this meeting for tomorrow. Yet more travelling and worry, what fun.
I would, in normal circumstances, be in a bit of tis was about the whole situation, however, today it has barely crossed my mind. And so, although usually this state of mind drives me to despair, today, I am so very grateful for it that I may even thank the person that has my mind so completely unable to function on a normal level (lucky escape), because it has meant that I can take myself into this meeting today looking about as cool and calm as Marlon Brando, which in my opinion, is nothing but a good thing.
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