You're never as smart as you think you are.

I just took the online Jeopardy! test: fifty questions, 15 seconds to respond to each, no pausing, no going back.

I don't really type that fast. Even if I thought I knew the answer in the first few seconds, I was panicked about not getting the words typed in quickly enough.

On the other hand, wouldn't it be great if, instead of booking a hotel and flying off to MLA, you could simply answer a timed online interview? The distillation of anxiety into a bearable few minutes?

"Describe your teaching philosophy. You have fifteen seconds."