Sunday, August 14, 2011

Trapped

On Friday, I was administering an oral test for incoming international students. I would take students individually into a classroom, give them the test, and then they would leave while I stayed in the room to mark their score sheet. I had been working for several hours without a problem. Then, a student left and shut the door behind him. When I went to leave the room, I realized the door was locked. I was a little bit panicked, as I wasn't sure how I was going to get anyone's attention. The classroom was a little far from where everyone was congregated, and there was construction going on in the building, so it was very noisy. I started banging on the door. I was reluctant to yell "Help!" because it seemed a bit melodramatic. I was afraid I was going to have to call Darby to get him to come over to the building and tell someone that I was trapped in one of the classrooms. But, after a couple of minutes, the test coordinator heard my banging. She tried the door, but it was locked from the outside as well. So, she went to go get someone who had a key. They tried one key, but it didn't work, so they went to get another key. The whole ordeal lasted maybe 7 or 8 minutes. When they opened the door, there was a whole crowd of international students clustered around, and they started clapping and asking if I was OK. I felt like one of the Chilean miners. It was quite embarrassing. And made even more embarrassing by the fact that several of the students I was about to test had seen the whole thing. I bet they were wondering about the reliability of their scores, what with their test proctor being such a dummy. ;) I won't be using that classroom again, that's for sure!

4 comments:

Sallie said...

As scared as I would have been trapped in a locked room, I have to admit your post made me giggle just a little bit--especially the part about not yelling, "Help." What a day and I almost called you last night to see how it was going!

Brittany said...

I understand your panic! I got trapped on an outdoor, second story walkway at church a few weeks ago. I knew someone would hear me eventually, but still...

Jenn said...

Oh I'm glad you are okay! Having said that, I cannot lie... this story made me laugh!!! ;-)

Gin L said...

LOl That was cute. Glad you were able to get out!