Why I was late for the BIG exam

The last exam of this season was the BIG one, covering any topic from the last 2 years of my studies in philosophy. We are given three hours to write an essay on one topic. Someone from the philosophy department chooses three questions, and when we arrive, we pick the one of those we wish to answer. It started at 3pm on Monday.
I arrived at school Monday morning about 8:00. I spent the whole morning reviewing my notes from last year's courses, and trying to formulate answers for questions that could come from this year's classes. By lunchtime, I'd had enough, and I went to the bar for a sandwich. To get to the bar, I had to squish my way through/around perhaps hundreds of students who were on campus for some sort of special event. After lunch, I saw that the area they had been in was clear, and I walked back through and tried to get into the chapel to pray a bit before the exam. It was locked, apparently to keep the visiting students from wandering all over the chapel and convent. So, I went to the garden to pray and relax a little before the test. It was so beautiful out in the orchard!







I prayed a bit, and watched the shy brown lizards run away from each other after finding some sunshine, and I watched the pretty green lizards with the black polka dots chase each other in circles and try to hide from me. And then I took these pictures from this post.

I looked at my watch, then, and went in to study for the last half hour before the test started. But, when I got to the classroom, I saw that an exam was in progress, so no one was to disturb them. That was odd--where was I supposed to be, then? That was when I noticed the list of students posted who were to take the test. There was my name among a few others. I looked at my watch again, and I could not believe my eyes at first. I had not arrived a half-hour early after all, but half an hour late! God bless our dear dean who let me take the test anyway!