Fight or Flight: Applicable to MBA Class Discussion

I am flustered. My heart is racing. My underarms are unnaturally damp, and yet, I’m shivering. My hands are cold and clammy.

A colleague makes a simple remark about class, and I jump all over them – my voice is raised in what many people would describe as a shout. I realize that I’m yelling, and then I run away.

My stomach is growling, but I feel like I might throw up, my insides are all in knots.

I drank, not one, but two giant coffees in order to boost my energy level, low because I slept fitfully last night, tossing and turning all night, waking every hour in panic because I don’t want to be late for class (ironically causing me to wake late, thus making me late for class).

My bladder feels like it’s going to explode every five minutes (thank you coffee).

I can’t concentrate. My thoughts are racing. I st... st... stutter.

I think I’m having a Fight or Flight response to my Creative Industries Class.

For evidence, I turn to the MBA source that no one wants to admit to using: Wikipedia. Fight or flight is a biological response to extreme stress.

The symptoms:

Acceleration of heart and lung action (I definitely feel like I’ve run a marathon, but I’ve been sitting all morning)

Paling or flushing, or alternating between both (thank you to the person that invented blush – you are a lifesaver!)

Constriction of blood vessels in many parts of the body (I am wearing mittens indoors)

Relaxation of the bladder (if class had lasted another 5 minutes, I think this would have been a check)

Auditory exclusion (I do seem to have difficulty following along in class....)

Shaking (please make this shivering stop!)

This is ridiculous – class ended more than 2 hours ago!

How on Earth has this happened?

Am I intimidated by my professor and his so-called draconian leadership (he is rather scary with his out-of-the-blue ‘what does this obscure term from the reading mean?’ cold-calling and his eloquent way of both acknowledging a fledgling attempt to challenge an existing thought with a gentle, yet thorough reminder that our thoughts are naive, and incomplete).

Have I confused an interest with the topic with the ability to excel at the course material?

Perhaps I have allowed my moderate amount of success in previous electives to boost my self-confidence to unnatural levels. Perhaps a few As, and dare I publically boast, a smattering of A+ grades have led me to believe that I actually DO know something.

Maybe I am a ‘smug MBA student that thinks she knows everything’ and this class is the way to bring me back down to Earth (not very gently might I add).
Regardless of how this has happened, my heart is still racing, my body is still shaking, and I am still sweating.

I think I need a hug.