Making a Mark

I am back from Banff. Back from our review course called "Making a Mark". It started off rough. I had a set of oral exams first thing on Friday morning and did not do well at all. I made a critical mistake on a critical portion of the exam, and did, well, critical. Before they gave me my feedback, I was proud of myself for being calm, and organized and not getting too flustered. Then, I got the feedback and realized just what I had done. The next few lectures after that I couldn't even focus. I was too distraught.
I waited until lunch, went back to my room, and sobbed. Luckily, the girl I was sharing with wasn't there at the time. I really needed someone to tell me that it would be OK, that I wouldn't make that mistake on the real exam.
I picked myself up, and carried on. More lectures. Then a written exam that night, which I did equally crappy on. At least, the others in my group did only marginally better than me, that made me feel better.
Saturday was a new day. A much better day. It was like a complete 180. I did AWESOME on this set of oral exams. They had glowing compliments for me. The lectures were also better.
When I phoned Jurgen to talk to him about it, he said he had the exact same experience! We really are the same! And, he still did OK. He still passed.
So, what did this teach me? I can carry on. I can pick myself up. I will continue. And I will prevail.

Still the little engine: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.........