I am a grading machine.

We gave our students their second and penultimate test today. It was a wild rollercoaster of grading fun. For the first half hour, I sat in my position of power at the front of the room, sipping my Sprite while the students diligently tackled the multiple choice and short answer portion.

Then the first student finished. Prof. J handed her the remainder of the test while I compared her answers with the answer key, and at the same time began to memorize the multiple choice answers.

The floodgates broke. Exam after exam poured on to the table in front of me. After four or five, I hit my stride. Grab an exam off the pile. Turn to the multiple choice. A! D! C! C! B! I tick off each correct answer, and swiftly draw an X and circle each incorrect answer. I hand off the completed papers to Prof. K for short-answer grading.

I reach the bottom of the pile. The first phase is complete, and I have a brief moment to catch my breath. Then Prof. K starts handing them back. Add! Subtract! Collate! I enter the scores into the spreadsheet.

Some confusion. Neil, who has been working in parallel with Prof. K, has made a mistake, disrupting the flow of papers. Inconsistencies are possible. I take point on the damage control, re-adding and comparing. All the papers are confirmed - we've escaped disaster this time.

We finish just in time as the students turn in the open-book portions of their exams. These will be graded later, by the professors, in a more serene environment. We gather up the stray papers, look at each other, and nod. We've done good work today.