This won't hurt. Much.

1 hour 30 mins to my first exam. Not first exam ever. The first exam for over 10 years and the first piece of hand written work I will have had to do since I left school at 16 22 years ago. My biggest worry is not about the content (although that does worry me) but the fact I will need to write solidly for 2 hours. And then again tomorrow and again the day after.

I can type extremely fast, I do not have to worry about spelling and if I want to change my argument or text I can do so easily. Typing at the speed of thought is useful. I can write at the speed of continental drift and my writing does look like it was done in one of the consequential earthquakes to continental drift.

So why the hell do they force us to write by hand. Ignore the stamina, what are they actually testing. Surely our ability to make philosophical arguments. But hand written ones mean that we have to get the structure right first time.

Its a real shame they still live in the dark ages. Its just not well thought through. And that is a big disappointment for a leading Philosophy department.