The Exam

Last night, I dreamt I was back in school. I was enrolled in an advanced course — biology, chemistry, perhaps cellular physiology — something that sought to explain how life works.

It was the day of the final exam. The professor handed each of us a single sheet of paper and said: “This is your test. Return it in one hour.”

I left the classroom to find a quiet place to work. The top half of the page was filled with data. I began searching the data for the answer, uncertain what I was going to find. I reorganized the data looking for a pattern, symmetry, a correlation, a newly revealed truth; but I found nothing. I tested the data against innumerable hypotheses, using every tool I knew; again for naught.

As my time with the test was coming to a close,  I wrote on the paper:

“I tried to find an answer for this data, but could not. Nevertheless, I am very content with my effort to analyze the data and, for that reason, believe this class was immensely useful.“

When I handed in my paper, I learned that was the correct answer.

I awoke joyously, feeling that maybe it’s the journey, not the destination, that matters.

Hayward Zwerling

11 October 2025