Vini Vidi...

Right now I'm sitting and basking in the afterglow of what I hope was my final undergraduate exam. It is... surreal! That's not a hyperbole: it really feels awesome. It was a quiet event: maybe 30 or 40 people writing a three hour paper. It was only us: no-one else wrote this afternoon and the Engineering building was empty and hollow. Three hours is, of course, a long time (I yearned for the days of writing History papers at school, when I was use to it) and most people left before the time was up, so there was no congregation nervous or elated people outside the hall. Everyone just dissipated and it was a beautifully fitting end of how these past few weeks reminded me of the last stanze of T.S. Elliot's The Hollow Men. Everyone (who is not returning to study next year) is going to float away on the winds of change as it blows into the sails of life. Today I casually found myself saying goodbye to someone and wondering whether I'll ever see him again.

Returning from the reminiscing and melancholy, here's a brief summary of my exam:

• On Monday I wrote Optimisation (Applied Mathematics). It went well, but I am weary of little mistakes that might have crept in (I had a lot of them during my preparation).
• On Tuesday evening it was Fluid Dynamics's (Applied Mathematics) turn. It was a massacre: Bloedrivier, except that this Boer didn't survive it very well. Luckily it turned out that it really was a difficult paper and everyone (without exception, it seems) suffered. I was sure I failed it (and I did, technically), but I got my final mark for that subject today and, surprise, surprise, I passed! (Going out for drinks afterwards was really fun though.)
• On Wednesday we demoed our spreadsheet project. There were a few minor bugs (that didn't bother the lecturer that much) and in the end we walked away with 98%. It was nice to be rewarded like that for three and a half month's of work, but it was so close to 100%...
• On Thursday I wrote software design. It didn't go nearly as well as it should: my distinction is gone with the wind now. Its funny: you work for three and a half months on a project, earn 98% for it, but the a one hour paper comes and steals all that glory away.
• And then, today, was Networking. It is sort of a wild card, but I'm not going to worry about it. I could give an answer for most of the questions, but the lecturer marks very strictly. Meh...

It Is Over!

I'm planning on staying on in Stellenbosch for next week and then returning home after that. I don't have any concrete plans yet, though. Most of my friends are still writing, so I'll find a way to amuse myself in the mean time.

For most of the week (especially after Fluid Dynamics) I've been in a quasi-zombi state, so, if you'll excuse me, I have some z's to catch up on.

Goodnight

Good Luck

Cheers!