It's that time of the month again.

Slightly stressed, anxious students with shifting gazes enter. They stop and and search for any clue of where they're supposed to spend at least the next hour of their lives.

Slightly stressed, anxious pentionists with shifting gazes enter. They stop and search for any clye of where ther're supposed to spend at least the next five hours of their lives.
There's examtment in the air!

The gereiatric generation are gathering for a brief time of socializing without saying much of anything to each other, but the prospect of meeting others in the same situation as themselves has fire buring in their eyes. It's the same groupe of people every year, with slight differences. Some have vanished from the face of the earth, just to take their place underneath that very same face, leaving room for a younger generation to have a go. The green horns of exam supervisors need to prove themselves buy ushering nervous students to and from the toilets, saying a few kind words of encouragement and politely asking about how the life as a student differs from what they experienced fifty years ago. If the head supervisor approves of their efforts, or so I guess, they get to come back next semester.

The students gather in ths non-verbal, social setting. To prove to themselves or their professor that they deserve to pass, or to postpone this particular exam by handing in a blank paper. It's not the same group every year, but there are those that appear time and again failing to have produced enough quality material to escape the dreaded F. They sit alone in a sea of hundreds more staring at the problems in front of them, feeling an odd sense of detachment from the world around them. Maybe except from the girl tapping her foot nervously against the chair leg. Tap tap tap tap. The sound echoes in the hall reminding everyone that the time is passing more quickly than they would like. If she would just stop tapping that foot, would the time slow down?

Soon they shuffle out one by one. First the students, then the old folks. Both groups having finished their task for this day. There's a sense of less stressedness now. Not so many nervous smiles or quick, uncertain steps. They all walk out with a bit more confidence. Why is that?