
Podcast: Dreamy Audio
Episode: 40
Title: 12th Grade Test
Host: Lewis Moten
Release Date: Circa October 16, 2005 – May 11, 2006
Restored Date: January 17, 2026
Duration: 15:54
Channels: 1 (mono)
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
Encoding: MP3, VBR (~130 kbps)
File Size: 3.9 MB
Summary
In Dreamy Audio #40, Lewis Moten finds himself back in college, drifting between rule-breaking fun and academic pressure. A loud, playful lunch outing turns sour when the group is expelled from a restaurant, forcing quiet embarrassment and a hasty return to class, where Lewis slips in unnoticed and feels out of sync.
The dream deepens into a testing scenario that blurs high school and college expectations. Offered answers he refuses to use, Lewis chooses honesty but feels punished by it, ultimately giving up under the weight of unfinished education, burnout, and the sense of being capped by circumstances beyond pure effort.
Analysis
This dream confronts tension between ambition and survival. The offered answers symbolize shortcuts available in life, while refusal reflects core values that don’t always yield rewards. The confusion between grades mirrors impostor syndrome and the fear that systemic barriers—not ability—define limits.
Related Dreams
This episode strongly connects to #28 (miscommunication with authority), #35 (infrastructure not built for real use), and #39 (procedures missing crucial steps). Together, they trace a recurring theme: systems that claim to measure readiness while quietly excluding those already carrying too much weight.
Transcript (auto-generated)
The junk dough was in college.
And I had gone out to get lunch. And I was with the group of a few others. And we were in the ball going to get lunch as we were about to leave. A few people in our group started yelling, up Senates. And we all started yelling up Senates in the mall because it was fun.
And then we decided to eat at a Subway restaurant right by the exit and sat down at a booth. And all I came over and said, you know, if she heard any more than we were going to be suspended from that restaurant. We were all trying to be quiet. And she went to go get our words. And we were all eating. And one of us said something. And the woman was like, that’s it.
You’ve got to go. So we ended up standing to finish our food. And we were all like, you know. And we started changing clothes. And the others went back to class. I went back to class and I was like, slideshows or something. And the teacher was asking people different questions about the slides. And I pretty much just snuck in.
And here we go. Once the class was over, I stayed behind with like two other people. And somehow I started to study for 12th grade material. And I went to teach facet. And I was like, can I just get us over with and just take the test. And this time I teach with a woman and she’s like, sure. She went ahead and got a big book. I sat on my desk. And she had to go.
A copy of a CD for me. And she promised to have time for that because she had other things to do. But she took care of it for me anyway.
And I had everything. She’s at her desk doing things. And I was like, look at the first page and I was just confused. There’s only one question out of four that I knew the answer to. And one thing I had was some papers she left with me. As I looked out of my realize these were her answer sheets. And I went ahead and walked up to her with the sheets. And I was like, are these sample answers?
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to have these. And she’s like, oh yeah. She’s like, you could have did this on the whole test. I would have never known. And I was like, you would have found out eventually. And you know, it just wouldn’t be good. And she’s like, no. I would have never found out.
And I looked again to myself. I should have just taken advantage of the situation. But being honest just doesn’t really help at all at the time. I just gave in to a situation I didn’t have to. Anyway, somehow I ended up crossing an intersection of traffic to get back to my seat.
I don’t know, that’s weird. So I crossed a road to one side and I crossed another. And I walked to my seat and I’m looking at these answers to the questions on the first page. I’ve worked down the one answer I do now.
I flip it to the book. And it’s just overwhelming. And finally I decided to just give up on the whole thing altogether.
It’s just too much. So I go back to the teacher and this time she’s like doing yoga up on a hill outside. I approach on like, you know, a little bit.
What’s going to happen now? Because I’m thinking I’m in college, but I’ve never passed 12th grade. Of course I have passed 12th grade in real life.
I have a high school diploma. I’m a little bit in a dream, I didn’t. She’s like, well, something you got by. I want to spend here if you shut the bin, so nothing’s really going to happen.
I don’t know. Maybe this dream has to do with the fact that I don’t have a college education. I’ve tried a few courses, and I tested out of them. I tried to take that English course, but they told me I was supposed to take honors in English. I was going to stick to the one course that needs to take another course that goes along with it. When I tried to do the honors in English, it appears that it was already the first day. There was just so much work to do when I did talk to a teacher that was overwhelming. You didn’t know what work I was supposed to do. Because of course they didn’t show up at the first class because it already had been over.
I don’t know. That really just discouraged me. I had pretty much just given up on the course before the second day. I’m going to show up and I don’t have any work done.
I don’t know. I would really love to have a college education. But it seems like I just don’t have the time and dedication to acquire one. My head is so into work. And in my evenings, I’m pretty much just distressing or just working on other things that are something related to work. To do courses at night really starts stressing me out.
I don’t know. I just really wish I actually had the time to get an education without having to worry about making ends meet. Trying to get money to pay for it.
I don’t know. In fact, I know it’s holding me back. I’ve got a cap on my salary that only goes up every year just because of inflation. It’s hard to sell me out to government contracts because there is no education there. There’s just high school diploma. There’s my co-worker.
She has master degree after master degree after master degree and she’s still going at it. And it’s just… I don’t know. I can’t do this forever, you know. If I keep coding forever, I just keep burning out. I can’t go up in the management until I get an education. When I try to get an education, I just burn out. So will I do. I think I’ll go back to sleep.
