The sound of the lights humming was deafening.

I looked around at the other students as they scribbled feverishly.  I had 3 lines down, but I felt like I was headed in a good direction.

The sound of the lights humming was deafening.

No one was allowed to speak.  Not a sound.  A pen clicked as it retracted.

The sound of the lights humming was deafening.

Moments passed.  It was too quiet to tell how long it had been.  I finished and closed my book.

The sound of the lights humming was deafening.

My head began to hurt.  I looked around trying to make some sort of gestural interaction with another person but instead was muted by plain white walls.

The sound of the lights humming was deafening.

It had been over 4 hours.  I was more than ansy.  I was irritated.  I wanted to scream.  Not out of anger or frustration.  Simply to hear myself.  To hear anything but the lights.

The sound of the lights humming was deafening.

Someone coughed and a page was turned.  For a moment I thought the lights had stopped humming, but as my ears readjusted to the silence the humming came back into focus.

The sound of the lights humming was deafening.

The proctor picked up our test and we were free to leave.  

I sure hope college eats this junk up.

Andrew Nemeth

P.S.  For those of you that don’t know Advanced Placement (AP) is an advanced curriculum that has a end of coarse test.  If you pass the test most colleges will you give you credit for that class.  Today I took the Art History test.