Failing Myself

We are getting our grades back for the partial exams (midterms) we took in May now, today I received the last grade: Philosophy. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 an A+; 9 an A etc etc, I got a 4. You must earn a 4 to "pass" and proceed to the final. If not, you take the recuperatorio, which is basically the midterm redo, and try to pass that to get to the final. If you fail that second time, you have to recourse completely the class. I thought I did better than the equivalent of a C+, but I guess not.

The good thing is that when I went up to the professor at the end of the class to have the corrections clarified and ask a few questions myself, he told me he had no idea the exam was mine - as in my grammar and my writing was not differentiable to any native student: confidence boost. That boost is probably what made me more than anything have the guts to ask him if I actually earned a 4, because one of the three questions I answered was SO WRONG... only because I copied down the question wrong. No explanation needed, it was my fault. So I understand. He said yes, it really was a four - my main reason for asking was that I didn't want my gringa status to push me over to pass if I really didn't (which to me it didn't seem I should have...). I asked him if I should take the redo test, and he said it was up to me to do so, because officially I had passed. Something in me told me I should actually prove myself instead of squeak by, because I can; so I told him I would come in next Monday to retake the test.

I have a 10 minute, no shorter, oral presentation on any theme I want, and I must do it well in order to pass.

He scratched out the 4, and put a "D", for "desaprobado" (not approved). So I failed myself...

with the shining opportunity to prove myself on Monday.

I will choose the question I wrote completely incorrectly on the exam, to show that I do know what I'm talking about and that I can do better than "pass".

Con suerte,
Angela