How to get your ass handed to you, part one.

Any cummulative oral exam where it's just you and the professor and he can ask you any question in any format should make you nervous. And when he immediately puts you in an uncomfortable position and then kicks you around and watches you squirm, that should make you feel worse.

If I get better than a C in this class it's going to be due to a clerical error. And if I get a C in the class, then my GPA drops below 4.0 and I have to make up for that next term or.... I can't take the qualifier again next september! I guess the gravity of this class was not apparent to me earlier. If Yip gives me a C, it could mean that I cannot get a Ph.D. here. That's not a good feeling at all.