Hm, this page took forever to load. I bet it won't post and everything I type will be lost forever. Oh well, probably not much loss there, because I do tend to ramble.

I would actually like to say a bit about why I do ramble about things no one really cares about - it's for a log of my own thoughts so I can look back later and say, "Oh, that was then." It's also a great store for fond memories. And bad memories. It's a log of my thoughts - a weblog, hence the name blog. This happens to be contributions of both becca and me, so it's unique in that aspect (I just got out of Bible Study Methods and my lab instructor has a fine English vocabulary so I tend to start talking/typing like him after class) but that's really why I sometimes just start typing and don't stop for half an hour.

So, yesterday was an awful day, however chocolate filled it was. I'm in this class, Bible Study Methods, reputed to be the hardest class ever, and it is. It's a wonderful class and I'm enjoying it but it's just a wee bit discouraging to spend six hours on a 6 page paper and get an 83 for it. Anyway, everyone has the same struggles with it so it's not quite as discouraging as it would be if I were the only one, and all the upperclassmen insist it will get easier. It's basically a class on how to study the Bible and how not to study it - turns out Christians tend to study it completely in the wrong way.

So, yesterday I got my big long six pager back in the mail. I saw my grade which I was only slightly disappointed in - I knew other people got less than that and this truly is reputed to be a difficult class - and I saw a note by the side which said, "Talk to me immediately next class period or I will have to give you a zero." And that was it.

Now, I'm pretty sensitive about my grades, and I'm pretty sensitive to anyone being upset with me about anything. He didn't say what the problem was, only that the next night (the class is 6:30-8:30 Tuesdays) I had to go talk to him.

So I tried to brush it off. That worked for about ten minutes, in which I went to lunch, found I couldn't eat anything, and showed the papers to Jessica who was in the cafeteria. I then completely burst into tears and tried to regain myself for about five minutes, then I ran to the bathroom and cried for about fifteen minutes to the point of being sick, then I ran back to the room and cried until I couldn't put off my Spanish homework any longer. It was pretty pathetic. The whole time, I was trying to call my lab instructor to talk to him about this note because I knew there was no way I could sleep knowing this...I mean, I had spent some serious time and thought on this paper and here I was about to lose it! And this man who I had so much respect for now thinks I'm...I don't know. I thought maybe he thought it was plagarized or something. That was all I could come up with.

Every time I dialed his number, I would hesitate on the last digit and then burst into tears and hang up because I wanted to be composed when I talked to him.

Finally I was composed enough to call him. And here was the situation he laid out:
The syllabus says, "Students are allowed (even encouraged) to work together on assignments, provided that 1) it is 50-50 work on each assignment turned in, 2) the work is done only with classmates who share the same lab section, and 3) all work turned in for credit clearly identifies all the parties involved." Michelle and I spent six hours on this mentioned-to-death paper. We split the work very evenly. she is in my lab section. The work turned in for credit clearly identified all parties involved.

Unfortunately, my lab instructor said the syllabus did not mean that we could both work on the same paper - it meant that we could help each other write separate papers. I did not read that at all, and I told him so, and he said he would talk to the instructor (he's just a lab leader) and we'd discuss it the next day. I do hate the term "discuss." It's too much like a counseling term. Is there a problem? Let's "discuss" it. Is there not a problem? Let's "discuss" why you think there isn't a problem.

So, tonight (I'm so happy now!) he mentioned that "some of you got an unexpected note at the end of your papers" and explained what had happened to those who hadn't gotten a note. He then went on to say he'd had a discussion with the instructor last night about what the syllabus meant when it said that and it turned out WE WERE RIGHT! So, we all got credit, and we can work together in future assignments, and everything's great, and my lab leader apologized and he was very humble about it (he must have felt pretty stupid, it must have been hard for him to just go and say he was wrong like that) and now of course I feel like I could never be sad again. Ever. Haha.

Then I floated into the cafe, found Jessica who was cleaning the Student Commons because that's her job, and told her my great news. She wanted a poptart so I got her one even though she has more flex credit than me. Bought one of two left of the flavor she wanted. Also bought a snicker's bar and ate it in the time it took me to get from the SC to the dorm.

I'm reading "The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass (aged 37 3/4)". I think it is terribly, terribly funny and I've stopped reading it during boring instructor's tangents because I tend to laugh. It is a very short book, a great pick up and put down book. It's so funny, so, so, so funny. Just make sure you have the characters straight from the beginning. I had to reread part of it because I was confused. Read it!

I'm also rereading the Father Brown mysteries. A few years ago I read one of the books and I loved it, and as a reward for finishing all my Spanish by living at the library yesterday I checked it out and it was the complete thing, all five (or four, I can't remember) books. I don't remember much about the stories except that one was about a severed head and the whole turning point of the mystery was when they discovered that there was really a second severed head in the wicker basket. Or something. Father Brown is a priest who solves the mysteries, and it's really very interesting. I mean, it's a very unexpected type of book. You don't usually see things with graphic happenings (not graphic descriptions - it's not the type of book that's written to make you feel a certain way, such as nauseous) in the same book as a kind of vaguely religious novel. I say kind of vaguely because, while I know the man is a priest, I don't remember how religious the thing was overall, except that his character showed by everything he did. Now, instead of talking about what I don't remember about the book, how about if I read it and THEN tell you how great it is?

-Amber