Michael Hartog

I Slept Through My CS Final

And I’m a CS major

The following horrific turn of event occurred on December 19^th, 2007.

The day before I slept from noon til 5 p.m.. It was 5 a.m. now. I made the call to take a nap before my 12:30 final. So I set my alarm for 7 just in case I went to bed longer than I wanted to and I played around on the internet for a while. Then it was 5:15 then 5:30 so I went to bed then. 5:30, after being awake for a little over 12 hours. I figure that it normally takes me an hour and a half to go to sleep normally and I don’t even feel tired so I’ll be fine. I drift off.

I wake up. I don’t hear that annoying music I set my alarm to? A frequency which seems to pick up two radio stations at the same time. I think… that can’t be good, why did I wake up then? Why do I feel so fully rested? I look outside and find my roommate cooking. I see the clock behind him, 2:30.

2:30!?!?

Half an hour left in the final? 10 minutes to get ready and walk there? No way is that happening… Roommate keeps telling me that he thought I had already left. Whatever. Not your fault. My fault.

Entirely my fault.

So I take a little more time to get ready so I don’t look like total shit. I head down there and talk to the first person I recognize who looks like he’s in charge, a person who watched over my two midterms. I ask him if I can write this final during the next time slot. He asks the guy next to him who I don’t recognize at first. That guy starts answering no, no way, not going to do it. Then I recognize him as my prof for that term, a guy who’s class I wasn’t the best student in. Not looking good at all. I ask him where I should go next because I’m obviously failing the class now. He points me to the Office for Undergrad Math Students so I go there immediately to see what they can do for me.

I head over there, finding it with little trouble. Stand in line for a while behind people with forms that say they were sick exactly on or around their exam days. They look fine now of course… Once I step up I tell the secretary that I slept in and missed my final and ask him what I can do. He tells me that unless the prof, who I just asked, lets me write it, I will fail. So I’d have to take a CS class the next term. However, only CS 125 (Java based) is available not CS 135 (Scheme based) which I was taking. So either I’m four months behind with a class I don’t want to take or a year behind taking the same course I should have passed the first time. Fuck.

I walk back to residence and think. I screwed my life by an entire year because I have a messed up sleeping pattern. I decide, because there is no hope any other way, that I should send my prof an email. Worst case I’m exactly where I am still, best case I get to pass somehow. I take about an hour or two to make sure it’s polished and send it off because I have another exam the next morning for philosophy.

My mom gets on MSN. I wanted to tell her since it happened because it’s better to get it out quickly I assume. I did the best things I could have given the circumstances I believe. So I give her the whole story and as I’m going through it she tells me to do exactly what I tell her I did next. That’s a great sign I guess. I messed up but I messed up well.

I get a reply around 9:30 that night from my prof. He explains that he doesn’t want to write another exam just for me (of course not, there are 2 days til holidays and that’s a *lot* to ask for *my* mistake). He has marking to do for everyone else. He says he’ll talk to his colleagues about it when he gets the chance. I thank him for considering the possibility at all. I tell him I’ll be in town as long as I can if some opportunity does come up.

The next day at 3 he emails me back saying that on January 14^th I will be given a chance to write another exam (either an old one or from another school I presume). My final mark after that exam will be decreased by 12.5% (so it’s worth ¾ of the normal 50% final). Then the lesser of the class mean and my mark will be taken for my final mark. Heavy strings but better than an absolute fail. Much better.

So I get a second chance. I call home, tell my dad to pick me up and I wait. I wait and I feel like shit. I was so close to fucking up my life.