Invigilating

Invigilating has to be one of the most boring activities in a teacher’s annual calendar. For two and a half hours I sat staring into space, pacing the room, examining the hairs on the back of my hands and trying not to fall asleep. On a work day I can wake up at 3.50 am and have so much to think about that I can’t get back to sleep. Yet when I am forced to do nothing in the examination room, my mind is completely void of anything remotely interesting. I would go quite mad if ever kept in solitary confinement without books, music or a computer. Climbing followed and restored a certain sanity, although no doubt others would disagree.