Ordination exam results arrived today - a week early. I passed three and failed . . . . . .
Hebrew.
I have been so angry and depressed all afternoon.
For the non-Presbys out there, this means that I will have to come back here at the end of the summer and try again, that I will have to spend five more days producing another 20-page paper to be read by people unknown to me who may well never have studied Hebrew or Greek, that I will have to wait till late October for the results, and that everything about my future call is stalled for six months.
We have only the pass/fail info; the actual graded exams with scores and comments won't arrive for several days. I've already forwarded my exam itself to two professors, one of whom responded quickly and kindly to remind me that I did outstanding work in my Hebrew and Exegesis courses. (Unfortunately, he is not a grader!) And certainly we have been told repeatedly that our professors are often mystified when they see the results and read our papers.
But still.
I am trying to regain my sense of humor by thinking about the Plan B I have had in mind: to ask my former employer, the Jewish school in which I taught for several years, whether they needed anyone to teach a couple of courses in the fall.
"Hey, Rabbi, I failed the Hebrew exam and I need a job."
I think that that should go over well.
Hebrew.
I have been so angry and depressed all afternoon.
For the non-Presbys out there, this means that I will have to come back here at the end of the summer and try again, that I will have to spend five more days producing another 20-page paper to be read by people unknown to me who may well never have studied Hebrew or Greek, that I will have to wait till late October for the results, and that everything about my future call is stalled for six months.
We have only the pass/fail info; the actual graded exams with scores and comments won't arrive for several days. I've already forwarded my exam itself to two professors, one of whom responded quickly and kindly to remind me that I did outstanding work in my Hebrew and Exegesis courses. (Unfortunately, he is not a grader!) And certainly we have been told repeatedly that our professors are often mystified when they see the results and read our papers.
But still.
I am trying to regain my sense of humor by thinking about the Plan B I have had in mind: to ask my former employer, the Jewish school in which I taught for several years, whether they needed anyone to teach a couple of courses in the fall.
"Hey, Rabbi, I failed the Hebrew exam and I need a job."
I think that that should go over well.
