So one of the courses I took this summer was called "Risk and Resiliency". Basically, it was a course about Special Education. It was a great class--very practical, and I learned a lot. One of the few assignments of the course was to observe two different children (one who was a typically developing child and one who was an atypically developing child) and write a 15-20 page paper describing what I observed and what it meant in the larger theme of child development and classroom accommodations.
I should tell you that we've had all 6 weeks to work on this paper. You want to know when I started writing my paper? The night before it was due. I'm telling you, I am the worst procrastinator--although, now that I think about it, maybe I'm actually the best procrastinator, cause I'm so good at managing to get an assignment done at the last minute. Anyway, I got the paper done (20 pages in less than 10 hours. WHAT UP.) and I turned it in on Monday. On Wednesday, we got our papers back. And that's where several things happened that caught my attention:
- when the professor went through her stack of papers to find mine, she had trouble finding it. Eventually, she realized that it was accidentally caught in the paper clip of another person's paper. hmmm....you see where I'm going with this?
- when she finally gave me my paper, I realized that it didn't include the rubric (the piece of paper that showed all the different requirements of the assignment, along with what my final grade for the assignment was). I went up to the professor and asked her about it. She looked through all of her papers several times, but couldn't find my rubric. So she told me that I got an A, and that when she found the rubric she would mail it to me. Are you there yet? Have you caught on?
- later on, after I had left class with a friend of mine, she and I were looking at her paper and I noticed that her paper was covered in marks from the professor--checks next to ideas the professor agreed with, punctuation corrections, etc. My paper? No marks. Anywhere. ...aaaaand now you're with me.
You guys? I don't think she read my paper. Swear to god, I think she overlooked it, but when she realized the mistake she had made, she didn't want to have to go back and do the work. I mean, she even told me that she was leaving for vacation on Monday. She doesn't want to have to read a 20-page paper when she's got her bags packed and one foot out the door.
And here's where I differ from everyone else that I told this story to--I don't CARE that she didn't read it. I really don't. But everyone I've talked to has been like, "Aren't you so mad? Are you going to say something? You got ripped off!" You guys, I already know that I wrote a good paper. I believe it was worth an A. So what if she didn't actually read it? I mean, god, I started writing it with less than 24 hours before the deadline. But then I realized, I think that's the source of our differing opinions. Writing papers like this one isn't hard for me. Plenty of other things are--drawing, singing, playing sports, anything having to do with science--but writing papers isn't one of them. So, no, I'm not pissed that she didn't read the paper. And you know what that made me realize? I am freaking MADE for graduate school. I was so scared of the Ivy-covered walls and the celebrity professors that I forgot to stop for a second and remember that my one strength is that I can bullshit with the best of them. You need a 10-page paper on social justice in the classroom. Done. 15-page paper on parent involvement? No problem. 20 pages about the cradle-to-prison pipeline? Bitch, please.
Now, you ask me to compose a mathematical proof or sing "Happy Birthday" and I'm in trouble. But until then, I'm going to take that A and move on.
An A's an A, take it however you can get it! Bitch please!
ReplyDeleteSo I have yet to meet your bro, but I love him already due to his comment!
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