Exams

An exam dream--though I'm not taking it. I'm supposed to be working with a colleague (not anyone I know) on MFA examinations for students which involve a twenty-minute written part and a twenty-minute oral. The process is not made easier for the fact that it all seems to be conducted in an outdoor cafeteria. We have a handful of examinees, and we're trying to time it so that one is sitting in a private area doing the written part while we're doing the orals at a table on the other side. My attention, though, is distracted by a particularly tricky New York Times crossword, and I lose track of the schedule. I go over to fetch a young woman after her written piece, and she comes over to the oral table with two very chatty young women friends. I try to tell them that this in an examination area, and that they may not sit here while the oral is taking place. Meanwhile, other customers file past our table to an adjacent one. The whole area is getting too crowded to conduct the oral, and besides, I have forgotten what the questions are supposed to be.