Just Not Fast Enough

One of the things I have noticed as I've gotten older is that my reaction time has gone downhill. I am just not fast enough. An example of my slowness occurred in my Anatomy class today. Over the course of two weeks, I had studied about twenty hours for a test on the bones of the human body, including not just the bones but the parts of the bones, such as the tibial tuberosity on the tibia or the intertrochanteric crest on the femur. I can name and spell these parts without much difficulty. I also know the general locations at least according to the illustrations in my lab workbook. But if the same parts are presented to me out of context, without my familiar landmarks, I am liable to be lost. In particular, if I am shown a closeup photograph of an actual bone, depending upon its alignment (medial, lateral, anterior, posterior), I may be lost.

We had a test today in which we were allotted fifteen seconds per question to identify a Powerpoint presentation of bone parts based upon closeup photographs. After fifteen seconds, the photograph was gone forever, with no review possible. I had a difficult time. I fear that I performed poorly, despite all my studying. On some questions, I was unable to decide within the allotted time and wound up guessing, although I endeavored to make educated guesses whenever possible. The test was multiple choice, which meant I could eliminate answers that were obviously out of context. However, I am most doubtful I made an "A". This distresses me, because I invested much time in studying. I could sit down and draw several diagrams of the human body with most of the bones and bone parts correctly labeled. I know the material. But I am not quite good enough or fast enough to make a decision within fifteen seconds based upon snapshots of closeups of actual bones. Maybe it is because I am old and my brain has lost its reaction time. Maybe I did not study in the proper manner. I relied too much upon the lab book, when I should have spent more time in lab handling actual bones. The professor had warned us ahead of time that the test would be based upon photographs and closeups, so it is my fault, and my fault alone, if I did not heed the warning and spend more time in the lab handling bones.

This is par for the course as far as I am concerned, because I always do things the hard way, never the easy way. In so doing, sometimes I make observations that other people do not make, because they are traveling at high speed along a paved highway, whereas I am trudging by foot along a dirt road. Other times, I get waylaid by bandits, knocked senseless and robbed of all my possessions.

I am scared to check my actual score on the bones test. The professor said she would post them immediately and she usually does whenever we use the scantron form, which can be graded by a machine. However, my courage has been fortified by a 24 ounce serving of "Olde English 800 Malt Liquor," which has become my new favorite beer. Let me just take a little peek at my grade.

81%.

Hmm! Not as bad as I feared. My other A's should pull it up. Everyone had said that this was the toughest test of all anyway. My other scores on lab tests are 98 and 95. Word on the street is that the next lab test is a cinch, so I will shoot for 100.