One week

One week from now, almost to the hour, I will stand in front of lots of people with PhD's in English Literature and I will talk about a Very Popular Book (The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri) and the Less Popular Movie Version (directed by Mira Nair) and hope not to get flogged, figuratively speaking. No, I'm not done with my paper. No, I don't have my clips set, or even pulled off the internet yet. No, I don't know what I'm going to wear. The GRE is in less than a month. The talk is bearing down on me with the force of a ton of bricks. I haven't even started my writing sample. My favorite proofreader/professor has fallen off the face of the earth and won't return my emails, I still need a third reference, I haven't started my letters of intent (EIGHT OF THEM) and I'm really about to lose it. The freaking out will commence now.