System
April 30, 2023 9:35 AM
Examiner Raúl Barba
April 30, 2023 9:35 AM
CATS/RATS by Examiner Raúl Barba
As usual, Raúl was sniffling and sneezing big time and dreading having to speak in front of the students at CATS and RATS. Neither of these things were getting any better, and they probably never would. For one thing, the former fed into the latter. He had to get up in front of a bunch of teenagers, in a decidedly undignified condition. Which made him anxious, because teenagers were not nice about these things. They hadn’t been when he was a teenager and he doubted they had changed all that much.Of course, that also might be a huge reason why Raúl was so anxious about getting up in front of a crowd in the first place. Because he had been picked on by someone for some reason his entire life, or at least as far back as he could remember. Not just at Sonora or about his allergies either. In addition to also being made fun of for his lack of flying skills, he had been made fun of and left out by his own cousins for…basically not being “one of them” because Raúl was the only one of them to be born in America, while they were all born in Cuba. Plus, as his maternal grandma was Muggleborn, all the cousins on his father’s side gave him a hard time about that, often saying rather derogatory things about his mom.
Add that to the fact that he had always been kind of on the smaller side and not being tough or strong or especially good at standing up for himself-or, okay, at all good at doing so-Raúl had admittedly been sort of an easy target. Not that he deserved it-and it had taken him a long time to realize that, because it always sort of been made to feel like he did-or that it was right but unfortunately, people-not just children or teenagers-often wanted to put down those who were different than they were or whom they perceived as somehow less than them or both.
So,therefore, Raúl felt nothing but anxiety in social situations or in front of crowds. However, his bosses had deemed him the least threatening-which was fair, since it was pretty hard to be less threatening than he was-person to get up in front of a bunch of anxious students. There was no need to make the experience of taking their CATS or RATS more nerve wracking. Which sounded great in theory, except he was the one who had to speak in front of them and get all anxious when he was already suffering from his allergies.
Unfortunately, while on their end, they took steps to make things less awful-for those taking the exams anyway, Raúl was still pretty darn miserable-he could not say the same for the teachers at most schools much to his chagrin. He really really really wished professors would not basically make the whole thing sound like life or death. Obviously, the exams were important-he had to think that, of course, or there was no real point to them, although CATS, at least, was as much about assessing the curriculum as the students themselves, based on an anecdote he’d heard, Sonora, for example, really needed to at least tell students that age lines existed- but they didn’t need to basically be told the tests were impossible but they had to pass them or their lives would be ruined forever. That they had to study every single waking minute of the day.
Even Raúl had ended up super anxious over exams. True, he was a fairly anxious person generally, but not so much over academic things. He tended to freak out more about social stuff-and pollen-but tended to be a good student. Still, because his professors had hyped it up so much, even he had been worried about failing miserably and spending the rest of his life on the street or something. Despite that literally making no sense whatsoever.
And yes, the person who’d given them instructions had been absolutely terrifying, however, Raúl was not sure whether or not they actually were or if that had been in his head because of how much his professors had made the exams sound so. If it was the latter, he was not sure how much having him give instructions would actually help the students. Especially when there was always someone throwing up or fainting or having panic attacks.
They weren’t the only ones feeling bad though.Raúl sneezed violently as the students entered the Elective Hall. His allergies had been exceedingly bad this year. Plus he was experiencing eczema breakouts and last week, he had an asthma attack, while giving a test at another school. Fortunately, not mid speech, but it had been humiliating enough. Or at least,Raúl had felt embarrassed once he’d felt a bit better physically.
He stood in front of the students and began to speak. “Welcome students. Today, you will begin taking your exams. Fifth years, you will be in the classroom to the right taking your CATS and seventh years, you will be in the classroom on the left, taking your RATS. You will be given anti-cheating ink, paper and quills. You may scratch out and rewrite answers if necessary as well as ask for extra paper if you run out of space. Anyone caught trying to cheat will be immediately escorted from the premises and their tests will be submitted as is, which means they will receive zeros on the tests they haven't taken."
Pausing to blow his nose briefly, Raúl continued. "There will be breaks between the exams for each subject and between the written and practical exams. At those times, you may use the bathrooms and snacks and drinks will be provided. All us examiners are here to answer your questions but we cannot explain test questions to you.” Raúl paused to sneeze once more before going on again. “If you need testing accommodations, you should have a slip that explains them and you will be accommodated in that way.”
He gave them the most reassuring look possible and sat back down as the written portions were passed out.
11
Examiner Raúl Barba
CATS/RATS
0
Examiner Raúl Barba
1
5
System
April 30, 2023 9:35 AM
Constance Melcher
April 30, 2023 4:03 PM
Finally!! by Constance Melcher
It was easily and without a doubt the most exciting day of Constance’s entire Sonora academic career thus far. She had been looking forward to it for what seemed like ages, and now, at long last, the day had finally arrived. Ever since she learned of the exam structure and schedule, she had been eagerly awaiting her turn to shine. Finally: the CATS exam!The Aladren had done everything within her power to set herself up for scholastic excellence. Her natural tendencies for meticulous memorization and critical analysis combined to grant her natural successes in her classes, and to top of her in-born prowess, she had devoted hours upon hours to additional studying. Any downtime she had - which was a lot, since she wasn’t involved in any social activities and had basically no close friends - she spent looking over her schoolwork. She had read her textbooks so many times, she had lost count. Really, the only things she did aside from schoolwork were reading non-school books for pleasure, assisting Medic Katey in the infirmary, and inviting herself to her Head of House’s office for a question or a chat.
So, yes, she felt quite prepared for her exams. The written portion, at least, she felt fairly confident she could perhaps even get perfect marks. It was only the practical section about which she had even a shred of doubt. Not that there was any discernible or tangible weakness in her practical magical ability - she felt, in her own opinion, that she was average to above average in terms of natural power and ability - but it was something she was not able to really improve. She practiced the spells that were practical to do so, but there was no way to know what would be thrown her way.
As she anticipated, she was among the first to complete the written sections, at least as far as she could tell. They had been a pleasant mental exercise, but now she felt her fingers growing a bit shaky. The real test would begin shortly.
At the completion of the practical, she felt her nerves release with a large exhalation. It hadn’t been too bad. Now all she could do was wait for the results to come in. And, Connie was pleased to remind herself, the next exam - the RATS - was only two years away this time instead of five, and it surely promised even more mental stimulation.
12
Constance Melcher
Finally!!
1523
0
5
Lydia Priory
May 02, 2023 4:38 PM
Panicking by Lydia Priory
It was time for CATS and Lydia felt like she was going to pass out. It did not matter how many times that Gwendolyn reminded her that she did not need specific grades to get specific classes so she could go to college and/or go into a specific career, and that it wasn’t as if the Teppenpawhad previously done poorly academically or magically, Lydia could not help but feel terrified anyway.
After all, the CATS might be more difficult than anything she had ever experienced before. Well, in terms of academics anyway. After all, the Challenges had been pretty bad and with CATS, nobody else was really depending on her for their success, and she didn’t have to worry about being bullied by the meanest girl in school if she failed. At least, Lydia didn’t think she did. Well, she didn’t have to worry about the meanest girl in school picking on her for her lack of athleticism or making fun of her for not wanting to get up in front of a crowd anyway. Plus, she wasn’t even sure who the meanest girl in school was now.
However, when it came to CATS, well, for one thing, Lydia had to do well enough to be able to keep two classes because she needed to pass two RATS in order to graduate from Sonora. To pass them, she had to take the classes for them to begin with and to take them, she had to get good enough scores on at least two of her CATS exams to continue with those classes. Lydia could not imagine anything more humiliating than not graduating school-well, actually, she probably could, since she pretty much saw potential for embarrassment in every single thing but still.
Also,to be thrown out of Sonora for failing her CATS-well any reason, but the only other reason that someone could be expelled from school that occurred to Lydia was flagrant rule violations, and that just…not going to be something that she ever did-would not just be shameful for the Teppenpaw but her entire family. Sopha already seemed to find her burdensome, she didn’t need her sister to think she was stupid and lacking in magical ability too. Or that she was too fragile to get through her exams and finish school.Not to mention nobody would want to marry someone who dropped out after fifth year because they failed their exams or was somehow not even capable of getting through them.
Plus, while none of the other students would be in there when Lydia was taking her practical exams, she was still worried about humiliating herself in front of her examiner. That they would be mean or unreasonably strict. She was terrified of judgment and their very job was to do exactly that. The Teppenpaw was especially worried about the DADA exam as not only was she not at all quick on her feet, so much of that class scared her. What if boggarts were on the exam? In addition to the fact that she tended to panic when confronted with something that she was afraid of ,they also presented a unique challenge for Lydia given that she was afraid of so many things that hers constantly changed and she had to figure out how to make one funny. Something that already was difficult enough when she was on the verge of a panic attack.
Lydia sat nervously while the examiner gave out the instructions and joined her classmates in the classroom they’d been instructed to enter. Then the written exams passed themselves out to the students and they began. She tried to calm herself down as she answered the written questions.
However, it didn’t work very well since as soon as the written portion was collected, she was second guessing every answer she’d written down. And now it was time for the practical portion and while Care of Magical Creatures was first, Lydia couldn’t help but be worried about DADA, which was getting closer. Plus, she had to wait while everyone who was ahead of her alphabetically went.
Finally her name was called. The Teppenpaw entered the exam area shaking. “Are you all right, Miss Priory?” Lydia heard the examiner ask as the fifth year’s breath began to come out in gasps.
Raúl surveyed the girl before him,concerned as he guided her towards a chair. Every year there was at least one student who came to exams in this sort of state. Internally he once again cursed the scare tactics professors used when it came to exams. “Deep breaths, okay? I promise it won’t be that bad.” He attempted to reassure her, his voice kind and gentle. “Can I ask what you’re worried about?”
Lydia couldn’t stop herself, tears began streaming down her face. What wasn’t she worried about. And now she’d gone and done it and made a fool of herself in front of the examiner, just as she’d been worried about. All she wanted to do was shrink into a hole.
Oh crap ,Raúl thought. He hated to see someone so upset over their CATS. He took out his handkerchief, an absolute must right now with the pollen so bad, and muttered a quick cleaning spell to get rid of all the snot he’d blown into it while the students were doing the written portion.“Here.” Raúl said, handing it to the student in front of him, who took it and wiped her eyes. “Let me know when you’re ready, okay?.”
The Teppenpaw nodded. “Okay.” She hoped she could calm down soon. Lydia would hate to be the reason exams were held up.
11
Lydia Priory
Panicking
1533
0
7
Bertie Jackson
May 18, 2023 6:53 AM
Challenge accepted! by Bertie Jackson
Based on the fact the man in front of them had been in a similar condition two years ago when they sat their CATS, Bertie had to conclude that he wasn’t actually dying. Or, if he was, he wasn’t dying fast. The logical conclusion was allergies, although why someone who was so afflicted a) chose seasonal work that involved being out during spring-summer and b) was the chosen spokesperson for their organisation, Bertie wasn’t sure. Even if the man wasn’t spreading diseases, Bertie didn’t want to be sneezed at on any occasion, and certainly not when sitting major exams. Obviously he could cope with the distraction, but it didn’t seem very professional to be making loud, unpredictable noises in both a silent exam hall and a situation where people were firing off spells. Bertie hoped for the examiner and examinees’ sake that the man did not invigilate practical DADA exams, where a sudden surprise noise could end very badly for all involved…Aside from the risk of being sneezed at, Bertie was looking forward to the days ahead. Tricky theory and non-verbal spells were two of his specialties, and were things that the RATS exams rewarded highly. He was excited for the academic challenge, especially as it was one he was sure he could roundly beat. Plus, as he was the youngest in his family, no one could try to out-do him out of spite, although he suspected clearing the bar set by his siblings wasn’t going to be the most monumental challenge.
The first exam was easy. Even when it wasn’t the exact same examples they’d practised, the fact that it was getting at the same thing was obvious.
During the break, he avoided anyone who looked like they wanted to sob and have hysterics over it. He was sure he would be last on their list of people to talk to as well, unless they were the kind of masochist who wanted to know exactly what each of their wrong answers should have been… He helped himself to some juice, excited for his next battle.
13
Bertie Jackson
Challenge accepted!
1497
0
5