They depart one by one, leaving their exam sheets at their seat. The room empties, leaving paper ghosts and air that lingers with the heavy sighs of searching for recall — "brain exhaust", as my graduate neurology professor named it. The exams are heavier as I pick them up; perhaps it's the graphite scratched into…

Seven-and-a-half hours. That's how much time I've invested packing one duffel bag. And that doesn't even tally the number of hours I've mentally hemmed and hawed over what makes the cut. For months, the gaping yellow maw of an off-brand waterproof duffel has been making wide-mouthed jabs at my inability to curate a shortlist of…