Mikey's Musings

A Sigh of Relief

Here's a quick little story of what happened to me recently. Last night I finally started on my financial accounting homework at about 10:30ish, which was due at 10:45 this morning. I was a bit stressed because I also had tax accounting homework due at 8 am, and I hadn't started on that either. I finished the first problem of my financial homework (which was a bit lengthy) and started working on the second problem, when, throughout this whole process, my roommates in the front room were laughing every 5 seconds, distracting me from my work. Finally, I gave in and joined my roommates to watch Conan O'Brien host his first night of the Tonight Show, laughing as hard as they had been.

After the show I went back to my room, it being a little after 11:30pm. I started working on my homework but exhaustion swept over me. Because classes started at 8am the next day, I made an executive decision to forego my homework and get some sleep so I could function the next day; I justified this decision with the fact that a few of my lowest scores will be dropped in my tax accounting class and I could still get up to 80% credit on my financial accounting homework, so it wouldn't be a total loss. As I went to bed, however, I realized one stipulation: my financial professor will randomly call students to work a problem from the homework on the board in front of the class. Knowing my luck I had an ominous feeling that I would be called on.

After enduring my tax class unprepared this morning, I sat down in my financial accounting class. I asked the guy next to me how the homework went for him; he said he only did 3 of the problems. I told him I only did the first one, therefore making me a viable candidate by Murphy's Law to be called on to work a problem on the board. He laughed and said he hoped that wasn't the case for him.

About 40 minutes into class, the professor announced the time to do the homework problems, looked at his roll, then at me and said, "Corley, you're up to do the first problem." What?! You've got to be kidding me! Of all the problems, he calls on me to do the only one I did! I was shocked; I looked at the guy next to me who, in turn, looked at me in disbelief. "I don't believe it!" he exclaimed. I smiled wide and happily began working the problem on the board with a feeling of immense relief sweeping over me. A few problems later, the professor called on the other guy to do a problem, but unfortunately it wasn't one of the problems he did and had to get a zero for participation that day. When I wrote out my answers to the problem on the board, I discussed my answers to the class and was relieved again when the professor confirmed my answers. I welcomed the clapping of the class and let out a joyful sigh of relief!