Frustration Detected

You know you’ve been around for a while when your classmates begin to sense your mood or emotions.

I had an assignment due today that was less than explicit in the instructions given to complete the assignment. I periodically checked in with other students to see how they completed parts of the assignment, checked with the prof for input, and became increasingly disillusioned with the assignment as time went on. I’ve wrestled with it for a week or more and was quite sick of it by this afternoon.

I arrived at the university today, frustrated by the traffic that cut into my already small window of time to walk to class. I didn’t realize that the combination of the frustration with traffic and the assignment had affected me that much, but about five minutes after I arrived in class, the girl that sits to my left overheard me talking to the guy that sits to my right about the assignment. She laughed a little and told me that she didn’t say much to me when I walked in because she could tell I wasn’t having a very good day. Oops. I didn’t mean to let that show.

After I turned the assignment in at the end of class, I went back to my seat to pack my things up. Several students were standing in front of my table talking, and as I was putting the last of my things away, one of my friends in the group must have been watching me because she said, “Sharon, you can smile—it’s not that bad.” Oops again.

I couldn’t help but laugh at my brooding and left class feeling a little better because she cared enough to try to cheer me up.