To sleep, perchance to dream

I’m having serious test anxiety. I realized yesterday that I’m taking my GRE exam in exactly one month (on March 16th). I’ve had strange dreams two nights in a row now regarding the test. It must be festering in my subconscious.

Saturday night I dreamt that I was in grad school taking an advanced molecular bio class and that I scored a 34% on my exam…a 34! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a 34% on anything in all my years of schooling so who knows why my subconscious thought that number was appropriate. Then, in my dream, I ended up telling the professor that maybe I wasn’t cut out for the life sciences after all, and I dropped his class and walked out before he could say anything.

Sunday night I dreamt that I missed the GRE class that covered the writing portion of the exam. The dream then fast-forwarded to the day of the exam. Halfway through the exam, I realized I was unfamiliar with the structure of the essay since I’d missed that class…so I simply walked out of the exam.

So…the moral of the story is, boys and girls: when in doubt, simply walk out. No, just kidding, ha. That seems to be what my fear is, though.

Then last night I had no dreams…but don't get too excited quite yet. It's because I took 2 Benadryl (for my allergies) at 1 am before going to sleep. The no dreams part was the only upside to this whole ordeal.

Um, let me just tell you: taking Benadryl so late at night is not a good idea. Benadryl is basically like at tranquilizer. You need at least 8 hours of sleep if you’re taking it because it knocks you out. It could knock out King Kong and Chuck Norris combined…and then have some effects left over to also knock out Goliath. I didn’t know this, however, until I told my coworker what I’d done since I looked a bit zombish this morning when I got to the office. Apparently my coworker’s friend took Benadryl once and slept for an entire day.

Anyway, the next thing I knew, my alarm was blaring and it was only 8 am, which means I only got 7 hours of sleep. I woke up feeling like I had cotton stuffed in my head and like my body was fashioned after Gumby. Everything is fuzzy and blurry. Not even my usual Starbucks coffee did the trick. Perhaps an IV drip of pure caffeine is a more suitable option for today. How I'm going to make it to the gym at 5 pm for my spin class is beyond me at this point.
"To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come." -William Shakespeare

5 comments

  1. First, my applause to you on this fine writing endeavor.
    Second, my applause to on reading Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet" as I feel it's a truly amazing book.
    Finally, while the subconscious can speak volumes, it doesn't often speak in a foreboding tone of what you should do but rather what your mind is thinking that you consciously may suppress to function daily (such as fear). Don't read too much into it. You'll do good, kid. Real gewd.

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  2. Ugh. I'm so glad I got out of taking the GRE. The grad program I'm applying for doesn't require it. However, I do have to take 2 more tests to re-up my teaching certificate.

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  3. I hope you find normal sleep again soon. I trust that you'll do fine on the GRE. Oh, and that's one of my favorite quotes of all time.

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  4. Wait just a second. I have to set things straight and clear up this false accusation that Benadryl can knock Chuck Norris out.

    Benadryl doesn't knock Chuck Norris out. Chuck Norris knocks Benadryl out.

    Quickly edit your post before Chuck reads this blog and finds out where you live. In fact, he could be peering over your shoulder at this very moment.

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  5. Adam: Thank you! I'm halfway through 'The Prophet' and it's amazing...I had to temporarily stop reading it since I had to spend my time studying.

    Can I Just Say: The GRE is not a fun test to study for, but I take comfort in the thought that I'll be done with it forever in a month. Hopefully I score well enough on it that I don't have to take it more than once.

    Errant Gosling: Thank you! I hope so too...I love to sleep so I haven't been doing too well on less sleep these past few days. 'Hamlet' is awesome...it's one of my favs as well (I'm also partial to 'A Midsummer Night's Dream').

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