My Life is Ruined

I am going through my desk, looking for papers I need in order to register for next semester’s courses. I see a wrinkled copy of my present course schedule. I notice that I registered for a class that I forgot about; I haven’t it attended all semester. It’s a crucially important, required course, and it’s one of the hardest ones I have to take. But it’s too late in the semester to drop it, and I have eight weeks worth of work I haven’t done. There’s no way I can catch up. I’m going to fail the class, a mark that I can never erase from my permanent record. I’ll never get accepted to graduate school. I’ll never get to pursue my passion for science. The worst part is that I always think to myself, “Oh no. I’ve dreamt about this over and over. Now, it’s really happening.”

I once told my graduate thesis adviser about my recurring dream. She said, “My husband has the same dream! He’s fifty-one.”