TIFU by quoting Fight Club in my $60 Duolingo English Proficiency Test

So I took my Duolingo English Test at 12:30 AM (because midnight anxiety is apparently my thing). For those unfamiliar, the test has super strict AI-monitored rules:

Quiet, well-lit room

Plain background

No disturbances

No looking away

No speaking unless prompted

No moving your damn head too much

Everything was set. Camera? Check. Background? Clean. Phone recording my laptop screen? Perfect.
I was halfway through the test and everything was fine… until:

🚪My mom woke up and started knocking on the door.

Now here’s where it gets stressful:

I couldn’t answer her.

I couldn’t look away.

I couldn’t even flinch.

My biggest fear? That she’d call me, which would end the phone recording that’s required for Duolingo’s AI check. 💀

So I just sat there like a statue, heart racing, pretending like the knocking didn’t exist.

I was tense AF during the written response. My brain was fried, my fingers were shaking, and instead of writing some well-structured, academic-sounding opinion, I panicked… and I dropped this line:

“People work jobs they hate to buy things they don’t need.”

That’s right.
I quoted Fight Club.
In a $60 English proficiency test.
That I’m using to apply for a master’s degree. Abroad. 😭

The irony? It kinda fit the question (“Is it better to do work you love or make money?”).
But still.
I literally quoted the movie you’re not supposed to talk about…

Did I pass? Yes got a SOLID SCORE. But did I leave my mark? 100%.

10/10 would not recommend. But 11/10 would do again for the meme.

TL;DR:
Took my Duolingo test at midnight, mom started knocking during the AI-monitored session, I got nervous, and ended up quoting Fight Club in my written answer. Spent $60 to drop a cult movie reference during an academic exam. No regrets.