University exams took place at the Wayville Showground, where I duly arrived just before 9 o’clock. The massive pavilions were no longer occupied by exuberant show-bag stalls, but instead were surrounded by thousands of anxious university students, some chatting loudly in groups, some sitting in the corner with their fingers in their ears, trying to scramble in some last-minute revision.
At 9am, when the gates to the pavilion opened, I was amongst the first who flooded into the exam venue where, under the extremely high grey ceilings, countless individual metal desks and chairs were lined up in row after perfectly straight row, rather like a yet-to-be-opened battleground.
I quickly located the signs indicating my subject – Administrative Law – and sat down on a vacant seat. My heart started pounding furiously as I contemplated the exam paper – a thin booklet lying smugly at the centre of the desk. I looked over two occupied seats to smile at a friend nearby, just as the chief invigilator piped into the microphone: ‘You are now under examination conditions. Any electronic devices must be switched off and placed in your bag, NOT in your pocket…’
As the clock hit 9:20, I turned the first page of the exam paper, my head bent low over the desk, trying to digest the words as fast as I could. Ten minutes later, the hall was filled with a deep hissing sound, as thousands of pens scratched against paper, pouring out their owners’ best hopes for a Pass, a Credit, a Distinction or a High Distinction. Minutes ticked by quietly, I held tightly onto my biro and frantically scribbled down everything that I knew, and guessed, about the Administrative Law (Judicial Review) Act.
Three hours later, three dazed, intense, heart-racing hours later, I walked out of the pavilion with the crowd. ‘How was it?’ I said to a friend, who shrugged. ‘What did you get for Q3?’ she asked. ‘Huh? There was a Q3?’ I jumped. ‘No, no, I meant Q1(3)…’ ‘Phew…’ Many exchanges of answers took place as we walked towards the car park. ‘Good luck with your next exam!’ we piped at each other in unison, our parting voices drown in the billowing wind, as the distant rumbling of thunders announced that rain was fast approaching.