Silence, exam in progress

Exams. I hate them. I despise them. Whoever invented them should be shot.

Right, with that little rant over, let me tell you a bit about the exam that I had today. If you discount the fact that it was a dreadful exam and very difficult, it was alright. It was definitely very useful to be deaf today.

I'm standing outside the room with about 15 other very nervous students. I'm in a small room as I'm allowed extra time for my exam. All the others in the room are also allowed extra time. It's nice not being in a big room with hundreds of other students.

Eventually we're allowed in the room. I sit at my allocated desk, get all my stuff ready. We're all sitting at our desk, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the clock to hit 9.30am and we can start our exams. The seconds tick by. Finally, a voice booms through the room; "you may start your exam".

I'm reading my questions. A behind me guy coughs. I reread the question. He coughs again. I read it again and answer it.

On to the next question. The woman in front of me drops her pen on to the floor.

The next question. A guy to the left of me starts tapping his pen against the desk. Tap. Tap. Tap.

The next question. Tap. Tap. Tap.

The next question. The woman in front of me opens a sweet wrapper. Tap. Tap. Tap.

The exam invigilator whispers something to the guy behind me.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Question.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Okay. I'm about ready to stand up on my chair and shout; 'silence, please'! I'm ready to tear out my hair. I'm ready to make a scene.

And then... Then I think; you stupid, stupid woman! Just turn your hearing aids off! So I do. And...

Blissful silence.

I continue the rest of the exam in peace and quiet, not getting disturbed by anything or anyone. Fantastic. Or as fantastic as I could feel whilst taking this horrible exam.

Near the end of the exam the invigilator walks up to my desk with a piece of paper that says '15 minutes left'. I automatically sign back 'okay, thank you'. He gives me a strange look and then walks back to the front of the room. He obviously has information about me that says I'm deaf, as he's whispered to everyone else. So writing that note was really good of him. But he obviously didn't expect me to sign to him. Oh well.

I finish my exam with 5 minutes to spare and switch my hearing aids back on. The noise is deafening, if you'll excuse the pun. The guy next to me is still taping. Someone is blowing their nose. The airconditioning has been switched on and is very loud. Sweet wrappers are still being opened.

And I feel very lucky to be able to block out all the noise and live in silence for a while. And for a little moment, I actually feel sorry for all the other hearing people.

Ah, it's nice to be deaf.

Until next time,
Deaf Girl