The Last Final

I arrived on campus this evening at the usual hour of 5:00 to take my last final--Personal Health. The class usually starts at 5:30 so I rushed up the three flights of stairs and entered the classroom in order to do some studying before the test. I was amazed to arrive in the classroom at 5:10 to find only one other student there. There are usually at least 4 or 5 people in the room and many times more than that. I sat down to catch my breath and after a minute or two, the light came on--maybe the final wasn't supposed to start until 6:00.

I pulled my calendar out of my backpack and found December 15th and confirmed that, indeed, it did start at 6:00. To my horror, under the time listed for the final was a note to myself that I needed to write three sentences of things that I learned from quackwatch.com. I always take extra credit opportunities if possible and had even thought of it while in the shower the previous evening but promptly forgot it.

I looked at my watch...5:15. I mentally ran the route to the library to the computer lab on the second floor, logged myself into the internet, did some quick research, and ran myself back to the top floor of my current building. In my mental calculations I figured that I could probably be back in my seat in 30 minutes, making it 5:45 with 15 minutes left to look over my notes.

I grabbed my backpack and headed out of the room in a purposeful manner. I met a student from my class on my way down the steps and figured he must think I'm nuts but stayed true to my course. I shot a dark look at a piece of sidewalk that tried to trip me as I cut through a parking lot, across a street, down some more stairs, and up even more stairs. I made it to the library in less time than I had budgeted and grabbed the first computer available.

I logged in--a seemingly long process when you're in a hurry--and went to quackwatch.com. I managed to find some lame sentences to write quickly, logged out, and retraced my steps, making sure to lift my feet around uneven pieces of sidewalk. I made it back to my building and up the three flights of stairs in record time. I settled back into my desk not more than 20 minutes after I'd left it and before any other students had arrived. I was pleased.

Other students began to arrive and discovered that they had forgotten to take advantage of the extra credit opportunity. They desperately asked around for someone to tell them what they could write without having gone to the website. I wasn't much help since I spent less than 5 minutes there, but I'm not sure that I would have helped them if I could have. In my opinion, you get credit for what you do.

They finally succeeded in finding a student that had gone to the website and had actually printed some stuff out. They passed his paper around and several of them got something off of it. They may get by with it but, then again, they may not.

The test was relatively easy, mostly common sense stuff about safety, etc. Since we only spent one class lecturing on the information on the test, Mrs.W said that if we had any questions, we could ask and she would have mercy on us.

So as of 6:30 this evening, I officially finished my first semester of college. And what a feeling it was!! I called Kris and we shared some elated rejoicing as we headed for home. I didn't even bother to bring any of my school stuff into the house...simply because I didn't have to. Now I have to see what meager pittance I can get for the books that I paid so dearly for.