It was a chilly October morning when I woke up and looked at my phone in a near panic. I took a moment to come to my senses. It was 12:30 and I had class at 12. This was not an ordinary class, this was the class where I was to have my first college quiz.
Before I get into what happened next, let’s backtrack. It was a Friday morning and I had a 9 A.M. class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I woke up for those classes with no difficulty at all. Next, I went to get a delicious breakfast because I knew it would help me focus when it came to studying and taking the quiz. I came back from breakfast, opened my notebook, and lay on my bed right around 11 A.M.
So here I was, wearing my jeans and long sleeve t-shirt sprawled across my bed in no position to fall asleep. Studying my key terms and definitions for my Psychology 101 quiz, I began to get stressed out with the material and roll over in frustration.
I opened my eyes.
“Oh no” I said, (to put it mildly). I was going to be late for my quiz. The thoughts start rushing through my head. “Am I gonna lose points for coming late?” “Will my professor let me make it up or stay late to take it if I ask?” I was aware I was not in high school anymore, and began doubting the fact that I would be able to make up the quiz. I get out of bed, throw my shoes on, grab my backpack and head out the door.
The walk from Woodland to Donahue felt like an eternity. I was dreading walking into the classroom and having everyone look at me and smirk. I was praying the professor would not have a quick witted remark about my tardiness. I walk up to the classroom door about to open it and I freeze. I could not open the door! For some unknown reason I decided to walk out of the Donahue building and sat down outfront at the tables.
The clock read 1:45 P.M. as I slowly rose and stretched from the chair and began to take my dreaded walk into the classroom. As I passed my classmates, only a few of them looked at me. None of them even gave me a smirk or looked back at me to wonder where the hell I was. My biggest fear turned into talking to the professor. I opened the door and caught him just as he was about to leave.
“Professor I am so sorry I fell asleep studying.”
“I’m sorry Brian, there is nothing I can do.”
My stomach sank and I turned around and headed for the door. I hear from behind me “I wouldn’t worry much however because I always drop the lowest quiz score.”The weight was lifted off my shoulders, and at that moment I told myself I would never make the same mistake again. To this day, I have never missed a quiz or slept through a class. This experience showed me how lucky I was to get a free pass. If it were an exam or a different professor, who knows what would have happened! My GPA could have been affected and I could have begun to get more nervous whenever a quiz or exam was administered.
To sum it up 1). Always set an alarm whenever there is a possibility of you falling asleep, especially when you have a class and 2). Never take anything for granted in these kinds of situations. Be aware that the circumstances can vary depending on the people involved in the situation. This was certainly a major wake up call for me. Three years have passed and I have managed to stay awake.