5.55am

In an effort to get things organised for the last exam, I asked for all the papers to be ready Thursday afternoon since no one comes into work on a Friday here and I didn’t want any last minute dramas, so when I left they were all in a folder on my desk ready to go at 8 o’clock. Good plan I thought, little did I know that it would be scuppered by the local minibus drivers of all people!

They called a strike leaving all the students going on holidays with major transport issues. The college decided to help out and drive them all in the school bus to Blantyre to get connections, but some administrative being said it would leave not later than 0800 - not entirely sure why, but it meant that the exam had to start at 6.

Although this was all sorted out last night we were blissfully unaware until about 0520 this morning when I get a call from The Boss Lady asking where all the papers are. ‘In my office, why, whats the matter? I asked sleepily, wondering why on earth she was fretting about them on her day off. ‘Well, the exam is happening early so we need to get them, please can you give me the key to get in?’

So, that’s why at 5.55am I found myself standing in front of 66 bleary-eyed students ready to fling their last exam at them - we all soon woke up though when Boss Lady lead us in an early morning rendition of the Nurse’s Song. I know the words off by heart now so it left my brain thinking about one it must have been one of the oddest starts to my day that I’ve had in while…