Comps...

I don't know how the rest of you are, but I don't deal well with stress. I wish I did better with it. For the past couple of days, I've been stressed. What this means to me right now is that I have bad dreams all night and wake up unrested and stressed out. I then lie in bed and remind myself out loud that I'm going to be ok, and I will live, and everything will be fine. I can usually calm myself down this way at least a little, and its even better if my cat jumps up and lets me pet her. That'll slow down my heart rate, too. Why, you ask, am I stressed out? Well, its because of a little thing called comprehensive finals. After 2 1/2 years of hard work, I am getting my M.A. in History this spring. I hope. If I pass my comprehensive finals which are on March 13. Yes, that's right, just a little over a week away. If I do not pass them, I will be in big trouble. I will not get my M.A., and I will become a bag lady shuffling through town, picking up cans for spare change. Comprehensive finals mean that I sit in a room with blue books and write for 4 hours on whatever 3 essay questions my three lovely and illustrious comps committee professors decide to give me. My program doesn't attempt to make comps a nightmare, as opposed to other M.A. programs I've heard of, so this means that I do have some idea what my essay questions will be about. I'm thankful for this, but it hasn't seemed to keep me from being stressed. I did get to pick the professors on my committee, and I think they all like me. I guess I'll find that out for sure on Monday, March 13. Anyway, if you're reading this, please pray for me. Pray that the Lord takes away this stress so that I can function better. Pray that He will lead me to learn exactly what I need to learn to pass. Pray that I am diligent at studying, and that I don't procrastinate too badly.