I came to a profound realization in Philosophy lecture yesterday.

I am the only person in this room who has had the indescribably exquisite experience of a hot flash.

In Writing, on the other hand, there are about 4 of "us" who are somewhat more mah-tooooooooooor.  I enjoy the company of one matron who sits beside me.  We keep tabs on each other to make sure that we remain upright, don't fall off our chairs and don't drool on our very pricey text books.  Today in Writing, we got our first essay back.

I should back up here and give you the prologue.  I handed in my philosophy essay yesterday, and the prof asked me to stay for 10 minutes after lecture, because he intended to "crush my soul".  After the rest of the class left, he threw it back at me, telling me if I insisted on handing it in like it is, he would have to knock the first 20% off just for the first sentence.  He insisted I omit the introductory paragraph, and replace it with something much more emphatic - uh, "ham-fisted" was the term he used - he wanted a treatment that was going to jump up and down on the table, and hit him over the head. I was to begin with a concise thesis statement, not a flower and fairy warm up to it. Okay....I can do that.  Back to the drawing board.....

My soul remained intact, though hanging in the closet, 'cuz I was too lazy to iron it this morning.  It's pretty wrinkled.  My Type "A"ness has poor coping skills.

Okay ...back to my classmate, and the essay.

ME: Look at this....she wrote "99" then erased it and put "76".  And where in the name of all that's good and holy is my sticker!?!?!?!

SHE: She must have had a psychotic episode.

ME: Indeed.  The erasure of "99" marks the event to the very moment of her break.  What did she say the average was again?

SHE: ummmmmmmmm....74.  I think the range was low 60s to 88.

ME: Uh....nooooooooo.....I BELIEVE what she said was that the range was 72 to 76.

SHE: Far be it from me to mess with your delusions.

ME:  Look at this....clearly....a "99"....tsk...tsk....tsk

 

We are always waiting outside of the lecture hall extra early, so we get a chance to visit, and compare notes on our university experience.  She is taking a philosophy class too, but not the same one as me. Based on our respective evaluations, I should have taken the same class as her.  But, she's willing to listen to my misery.

 

SHE: Well? How did philosophy go yesterday?

ME: Hm...well, now that I think about it.... it was better.  I couldn't care less about the "Big Bang" theory, but it must be a subject he really likes.  He actually formed complete sentences, so it wasn't as painful as usual. It sped right along.

SHE: That's an improvement.

ME: Yep.  After class I said to him: "This must be your favourite lecture.  You did REALLY well today!"

SHE: And did you pat him on the arm and ruffle his hair a bit?

ME: OMG!!!  I'm doing it again!  I'm mothering my prof - GACK!!!!

SHE: (through snorts of laughter) and what did he do?

ME: He said "thank you"....then got all weird and red-faced....he may have giggled...

 

Highlights from the comments the prof wrote on my essay for Writing class:

• excellent use of language
• you write very well
• you have a vibrant and arresting style
• in short, very well written

Now, you may note that I have neglected to include the page full of comments about how my essay is too narrative to be good academic style, and that my argument was buried in the narrative, but became clearer when I moved into a more analytical part, but I don't want to bore you with THOSE particular details.  I understand that a gold star was probably not earned in this instance, but a "NICE TRY!" sticker would have gone a long way to making me feel better.