Angst

“You have 13 hours, 24 minutes, and 12 seconds to complete your assignment” spoke a monotonous voice from the corner of the bedroom.

My body turned itself over, and with a grunt, I fell back to sleep.

“You have 13 hours, 19 minutes, and 12 seconds to complete your assignment” spoke the voice again in the same monotonous tone.

I grab the blankets and pull them over my face. My heavy eyelids shield the world from me.

“13 hours, 12 minutes, and 12 seconds” I hear again.

I fall back asleep.

“You have 11 hours, 2 minutes, and 12 seconds to complete your assignment” the voice awakens me once again. I notice a flashing yellow light pulsating on and off in the corner of the room. I look at the small screen I keep by my side: 9:15am, I read with angst.

“You are running out of time” the voice monotonously bellows. “You will run out of time”

I roll quickly out of the soft, comfortable bed whose residual warmth will now begin to extinguish. I rush to the bathroom: The electric toothbrush buzzes for 2 minutes, I floss between three teeth, and dunk my head under the faucet. I run to the kitchen and grab a granola bar. I come back to the bedroom. “10 hours, 57 minutes, and 12 seconds” the voice continues it’s countdown.

I sit at the brown, cedar wood table and open the textbook. “There’s no time, I think to myself. No time.” I feel a pressure in my chest. “No time to think, no time to think”.

One chapter complete.

“9 hours, 35 minutes, and 12 seconds”

Two chapters complete

“8 hours, 2 minutes, and 12 seconds”

Three chapters complete

7 hours, 0 minutes, and 12 seconds”

Exhausted, I lay my head onto my hands. “You are running out of time” the voice bellows. “There will not be enough time”. I raise myself up.

Four chapters complete.

“5 hours, 35 minutes, and 12 seconds”

I close the book and decide to go on a run. “I have twenty minutes”, I think to myself. I rush to the drawer and grab a pair of nike running shorts.

I run around the horseshoe. I repeat what I learned in my head. I sit back down at the cedar wood table. I scarf down a granola bar.

“4 hours, 45 minutes, and 12 seconds”

I begin to answer the discussion questions.

What were Francis Galton’s most famous achievements?

“4 hours, 20 minutes, and 12 seconds”

Is intelligence heritable? Why or why not?

4 hours, 0 minutes, and 12 seconds

What is the definition of intelligence?

3 hours, 30 minutes, and 12 seconds

What is the highest predictor of individual success?

3 hours, 0 minutes, and 12 seconds.

I realize that I have stopped breathing. I sit back and gaze and the textbook in front of me. “From Inquiry to Understanding” the words flash from the surface of the book. “Understanding” I repeat to myself. I rest my head on the table.

“1 hours, 0 minutes, and 12 seconds!” bellows the voice. A red light has begun flashing in the corner of the room.

I wake with a startle. I turn the laptop on to complete todays examination. 25 multiple choice questions.

“To test your comprehension” I remember reading on our class website.

I begin the test: “You have 25 minutes to complete this examination. If you do not complete it in time, your results will be nullified. If you prepared, you will succeed. This is worth 25% of your grade” I read at the top of the screen. “I do not accept late exams” was posted boldly below this introduction.

“Psychologies greatest achievement. One of the 20 best scientific inventions of the 20th century: the standardized test” I recall from the textbook.

20 minutes left.

“Your grade will determine your intelligence” The voice spoke.

15 minutes left.

“If you study hard, it will pay off!” The voice spoke

10 minutes left

“Good grades will lead to good jobs!” “Good jobs to a happy family!”

5 minutes left

The countdown on the computer screen begins to flash in red.

“Now! Now! Now! Now!”

10, 9, 8, 7

I click “done”.

“Congratulations. You have completed your assignment” the voice monotonously spoke.

With a wave a relief, I laid down on the soft, comfortable bed beside me. My brain exhausted and my eyelids heavy, I cover the blankets over my eyes to shield the light from the world away. I feel the tension slowly start to dissipate.

“You have 23 hours, 55 minutes, and 12 seconds to complete your assignment” the voice bellows from the corner of the bedroom.