Testing my knowledge or my skills under pressure?

I never imagined I would be studying so much and trying to keep myself busy at all times, but I have managed to do so. Graduate school has been good, very difficult, but good. In fact, I just completed my first grad school quiz! The 2nd and 3rd year grad students told us, no matter how well you know the information or how smart you may be, be prepared for 40%/F's on your quizzes in Physiological Acoustics. They say we won't fail the class, but just prepare to never get an A (the professor told us this as well). So, I took the quiz, and it was quite bizarre.

First, I was so nervous because I did NOT want to fail this quiz, I was determined! I had to take a deep breath and calm my nerves during the test, not realizing that at any moment, (after about 15 minutes) the professor would say, "alright hand them up and lets see what you thought". I was terrified because I thought I had 30 minutes to complete it...I didn't have time to go back and change some of my answers or reword them; he says, "use brevity and correct terminology". I didn't have enough time plus I was confused...was this a quiz or an in-class assignment?! AHH! As he shuffled through the papers, he said, "Kelly, tell us what you put for number 3." I was praying I had the correct response and even remembered what I wrote, but I guess I was on target.

I actually felt pretty good about the quiz, but who knows how particular he is in grading! As we discussed the quiz, I made sure to put in my 2 cents so despite what I wrote on paper, my professor would know I understood these abstract concepts and oddly worded questions.