Sarah's Thoughts
As Seen on Campus …
I was walking down the quiet hallways of my building this morning and spotted this note on a professor’s door:
Dear Professor Doe (name has been changed to protect the identity of instructors who must deal with irresponsible students):
I got my exam times mixed up and I missed your final. Please let me know when I can come to your office to make up this exam.
Jane Smith (name not changed to protect the stupid, but changed because it would be frowned upon to do otherwise)
I love the assumption made by Jane that she will be allowed to take the exam at this point. There is no request nor a plea for forgiveness, but simply a statement telling the instructor to do something for her.
I hope this professor’s response is to give the student an “F” on her final. But, I’m afraid that the hand-holding and lack of accountability that is so popular on college campuses these days will win out.
At what point do students learn there are consequences for their actions? I always triple-checked my finals schedule against both my syllabi and the information posted in the schedule book. Multiple alarms were set for early exams and I made sure to get to the assigned room at least 15 minutes early, in case any changes had been made. I had a couple of friends who received zeroes on their final exams for forgetting or sleeping through the tests. No excuses, no questions asked.
Will Jane be calling a potential employer in a couple of years and saying, “Mr. Bossman, I confused my job interview with my pedicure appointment. Please let me know another time this week that I can interview for the position.”?
December 19th, 2005 at 7:59 pm
I, too, checked my exam schedules over and over again. Fifteen years after college, I still have this recurring dream where I have to return to school to take an exam I missed.
December 19th, 2005 at 8:14 pm
Aloha, Bob! Nathan and I also have both had this dream. My version usually involves Dr. Majeska’s final for History of the Eastern Orthodox Church. I did not want to get on that man’s bad side!
I think this dream is the mark of people who take their responsibilities seriously and don’t blame others when they mess up.
December 19th, 2005 at 11:25 pm
I’m 53 and I’m still having that damn dream also. I was also a ‘multiple alarm’ setter.
How my dad would have enjoyed this post, Sarah. He taught at Lipscomb for many years and would regale us with the creative excuses that students would use to either get out or, or retake, final exams.
Sadly, the creativity of those students has been lost on the student you write about here.
December 20th, 2005 at 12:21 pm
I’m glad to know that there are others who still have the–holy cow! I missed the exam! dream. Or my favorite–the one where I’ve not been to class all semester and show up for the exam hoping no one will notice. Those are like one and two on my weird dream rotation playlist…
I just don’t understand the lack of accountability or personal responsibility I see in some people these days. At the least, you or your parents are paying a good amount for this and you’d think you might want to show up and take the exam. But maybe that’s just me…