Ok… we’ve all been through this. You’re either dreamily gazing out of the classroom window, or lost in thoughts of yesterday night’s American idol contestants, or doodling on that blank page in front of you, or maybe just worried that your tummy- craving for your daily al-Kareem shawarma- might grumble loud enough for the girl in the next seat to suspect the obvious, that WHAM! KABOOM! Yes…with apologies… you’ve just been shot a question by that small, minuscule person up there in the front…yes THAT person, the one you shut your mind to as soon as he switched his mike on.
You begin by being mildly amazed at the fantastic exhibit of artistry on the board yonder. Lots of loops and some squares, why even a splash of illegible writing here and there. Wow sir’s really showed his creative skills this time… you think. But it’s then that you notice the expecting expression on your instructor’s face, a sudden tenseness in the crowd around, people in the front turning in their seats to stare at you with their gi-normous goggly eyes. And in that split second you realize, that -dare I say it- you’ve been ‘questioned’.
Ahhhhhh what follows can either go two ways; you ask for a repetition of the question and you’re showed the door, or you ask a repetition of the question and (regrettably) get it. If the latter pursues then the forthcoming future depends on your day’s store-of-luck. Quiet whispers of the answer might come floating your way and if the lecturer doesn’t notice the source, you’re safe! But just as Boom Boom’s sneaky move of ball-biting madness ended in a penalty similarly over smartness can lead you the wrong way; like a wrong answer, or your sir getting irritated by that devil of a laugh that somehow always bubbles out of you when you’re giving… uh… a ‘neighbour’s answer’. I recall such a happening whilst I was quizzed in a histo practical. Every reply given by yours truly was uncontrollably (honest!) interjected by an effervescence of laughs. A certain blonde-haired Madam S. seemed not to mind in my case, but a similar scenario faced by a friend in Physio had, how should I put it… undesired effects (you get the picture, right?).
So, long story short, your ordeal of getting ‘questioned’ might end in being gracefully asked to sit and if not, you’ll find yourself sooner or later outside the lecture room welcomed by a fresh breeze of air and perhaps a gift or two from the pigeons above (Physio department guys!). And if it’s the second course of events that fate had written for you, why rejoice and be merry! For thou hath been bequeathed with the greatest achievement desired! -the title of being ‘OUTstanding’. Aye… ‘tis a title of great honour, loathed by all and desired by many. Tell thy generations to cometh, that once in K.E. thy was ‘questioned’ and so made ‘OUTstanding’. Fret not and be proud my friend! Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice.