Distinction

Got my first paper back today. Got a distinction (i.e. highest grade range). I was nervous about getting the paper back, and it was a huge relief. See, the British system is very different from the American system. In the States I always did extremely well on papers - I never got less than an A. But I was nervous here. Because I knew how to assess myself, my work, according to American expectations, but I had NO idea what to expect from the British system of assessment. But I got the same (equivalent) score as I would have expected to get if I was in the States, so now I feel more confident. We have two papers per class, each totalling 25% of our score for that class, the remaining 50% being the final exam. So there is a lot riding on each paper! Our presentations aren't even marked, but are mandatory. So anyway, I feel happy. The friends I wrote about in my last post are all in that class, and the three of them all got distinction as well; we were very close in score range, but one girl and I got the highest of the group. ;) You know you have formed good friendships when you are all sincerely happy for each other, especially since so many other people here are so competitive. The four of us all happened to be writing our paper on the same topic, but each taking a very different angle/approach. But that meant we ended up discussing our papers with each other a lot, bouncing ideas off each other, sharing sources, being careful not to step on each other's toes in our individual papers - basically collaborating in a way that was both ethically acceptable and extremely untypical of people in our programme and school. I'm not into that ultra-competitive side of academia - when it comes to the people I surround myself with, we share thoughts and ideas with each other quite often, and because we have a mutual respect for each other we would never steal each other's ideas. But in my experience I must say that it is rare to find people like that. So I count myself as lucky...