People Watching

For most people, the BYU Testing Center could easily be compared to The Chokie (the torcher chamber featured in Matilda). The stress level is so high that you can practically smell it. And believe you me, it is quite a stench. Everything from the long, winding line you have to stand in to the high-stress, fastpaced office where you receive your test to the enormous room crammed with desks adds to the already-present feelings of anxiety that automatically accompany a test of any sort.

I, on the other hand, rarely let this stress get to me. I go into a test with the knowledge that either I know the stuff or I don't (usually the latter these days), so I don't generally let it get to me. I think I might even be waaay too chill when I go in. If you were to look at my scratch paper you'd be surprised that I even finished the test! I get easily distracted doodling and such. I've drawn more llamas in the past week than I have in my entire life, which is saying a lot.

Probably my favorite past-time in the testing center is people-watching. It is definitely a fabulous opportunity to do so, seeing as how there are a gazillion people crammed into one room. People do the absolute funniest things while taking tests and I thoroughly enjoy observing. I guess that's why I'm a Sociology major.

Some people have the most hilarious test-taking rituals of all times. Some like taking their shoes off and folding their legs up like a pretzel. Others practically eat a Thanksgiving feast during the course of their test. Watching people read the questions to themselves and getting that infamous furrowed brow and look of panic is always a classic.

If it weren't for the fact that I actually have to take - and fail - tests in the testing center, I think I'd rate it among my top 5 favorite places on campus because it is truly a prime people-watching location. I don't think that's normal.