Unfirst Class

At this time of year, thoughts generally turn to exam results. And so it came to pass this morning.

I got 70% in one module at 63% in the other. The first result was unexpected, the second result wasn't. Though it puts me even more strongly in the 2:1 category, I had been having vague thoughts of late that maybe, just maybe, with an outstanding dissertation performance I could squeak home on a first. Hardly anyone gets firsts in politics from Hull, so that would have been an achievement in itself.

But these results put paid to that. Though one of them is a first (70%), that is the absolute minimum. I could have done with the other module being around 68% or so to put me in with a chance. As it happens, even a stonking great 80% for the dissertation would only just put me into borderline first territory, but I wouldn't have enough credits at first level to give me what I want.

Never mind. I have been expecting a 2:1 for a long time anyway, so I'll be very happy with that. I just got a bit carried away. I knew my second module, the 63%, was going to be fairly bad because the exam was so harsh. The questions were not phrased the way I liked, I had to use my third and fourth choice revision topics and, even worse, questions appeared on the exam which we had been told would not come up. And then there was a question which came up on the essays, which should never have appeared in an exam.

So all in all I think I got away with it, really. At the price of scuppering any possibility of a first. It's a shame, but I'll get over it very quickly. Instead I'm just going to be happy that I'm still doing well and now officially 2/3rds of the way through my degree in credits (though approaching 7/8 in time). We really are in the endgame here...

Meanwhile, it's been a relaxing weekend. I think I deserved it, though it hasn't been without its controversy. Particularly yesterday, when I finally worked out that the bad smell downstairs was because of a rotting, decaying mouse underneath the fridge. That was a surprising discovery. Especially when I realised those brown stains on the floor around the fridge were not spilled coffee...

But apart from that the weekend has been good. I went to town and got myself a new headset, so I can now join the Skype age. Then I bought a present for my housemate's birthday tomorrow (though I'm not sure he deserves it after all the noise he made on Friday night after returning from a night out). And watched a lot of FA Cup football. That was reasonably entertaining. As was watching the film Rope for the first time.

So... all is well at the moment. Including the weather. Though it's bitterly cold in the morning, the glorious sunshine throughout the day is a joy to behold.