2008 Woodie Awards
'So you don't go to class at all?'
By: Matt Jennings
Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: Opinion
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So, I got a call from a friend from high school earlier last week. The conversation went a little something like this:
"Dude," he started before I had a chance to even say hello.
"Yeah, dude?" I replied. "You sound tired."
"I just stayed up all night working on this project."
"Yeah, how'd it go?"
"Finals are rough, dude. Worst part, though, we had to turn it in."
I waited for the explanation to come. I hadn't spoken with this particular friend on the phone in months. The few e-mails that I had received from him revolved mainly around fantasy football and creepy Facebook pokes. Perhaps his school had some sort of elaborate process that students must follow in order to turn in their assignments that caused his experience to be so bad he considered it worse than not sleeping. I tried to imagine what kind of process that would be. But after no such success, I decided to break the now completely awkward silence held between us.
"I guess I don't understand what you mean," I said.
"What do you mean, what do I mean?"
"Isn't that what you do with completed projects, papers, tests, homework - turn them in?" I asked, completely perplexed.
"But I actually handed it in," he said with a tone that hinted of disbelief that I wasn't immediately sympathizing with his tragedy. "I haven't done that in this class all year and go figure, today is freezing and the walk to class takes like 20 minutes."
"How do you usually turn stuff in?" I asked.
"E-mail. I've seen my professor like five times all year."
"What?"
"When I saw the syllabus and what we had to do this year, I figured I could do it on my own. That lecture is so boring."
It was then that I realized how different my college experience has been in comparison to my truant high school friend. Sure, this guy had never really been a fan of cold weather, but he was a fairly good student. I couldn't imagine him just completely skipping out on class.
"Dude," he started before I had a chance to even say hello.
"Yeah, dude?" I replied. "You sound tired."
"I just stayed up all night working on this project."
"Yeah, how'd it go?"
"Finals are rough, dude. Worst part, though, we had to turn it in."
I waited for the explanation to come. I hadn't spoken with this particular friend on the phone in months. The few e-mails that I had received from him revolved mainly around fantasy football and creepy Facebook pokes. Perhaps his school had some sort of elaborate process that students must follow in order to turn in their assignments that caused his experience to be so bad he considered it worse than not sleeping. I tried to imagine what kind of process that would be. But after no such success, I decided to break the now completely awkward silence held between us.
"I guess I don't understand what you mean," I said.
"What do you mean, what do I mean?"
"Isn't that what you do with completed projects, papers, tests, homework - turn them in?" I asked, completely perplexed.
"But I actually handed it in," he said with a tone that hinted of disbelief that I wasn't immediately sympathizing with his tragedy. "I haven't done that in this class all year and go figure, today is freezing and the walk to class takes like 20 minutes."
"How do you usually turn stuff in?" I asked.
"E-mail. I've seen my professor like five times all year."
"What?"
"When I saw the syllabus and what we had to do this year, I figured I could do it on my own. That lecture is so boring."
It was then that I realized how different my college experience has been in comparison to my truant high school friend. Sure, this guy had never really been a fan of cold weather, but he was a fairly good student. I couldn't imagine him just completely skipping out on class.
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