Turning Point
Sometimes your whole life balances on one incredibly juvenile moment.
I was cocky going in.
Compared to high school, I found University life quite liberating... heady, indescribable, intoxicating.
It wasn’t any one particular thing.
It wasn’t the wild bathing-suit optional parties we had, jumping rich condo owner’s clubhouse fences to use their pools and jacuzzi’s after midnight. It wasn’t the street racing, it wasn’t getting drunk and wandering the huge drainage tunnels under the University.
It wasn’t even the girl that rubbed nipples against my back while whispering in my ear in the laundry room (that was an introduction I have yet to forget).
And so it was that my studies began to slip.
Yes, I could always get things done in a pinch; I was a quick study. But so was everyone else! I was no longer the whiz kid... I was just another guy.
I took a computer programming course - an easy “A”. I already knew everything, so rather than attend lectures I slept in, wasted time, chased girls and so forth.
It was an absolutely glorious fall.
One day, I attended the computer class for the sole reason of looking up a female friend. I never found her, but I discovered something awful. I would be kicked out if I didn’t have some ‘computer quizzes’ completed.
In fact, I was already on the ‘out’ list.
Only a sort of study contract would save me. Great. If I lost this course, I’d lose my ‘full schedule’, which in turn would affect my grants and my housing... and my University enrollment. How did it come down to *This*?
I had to make up about three quizzes in the lab. I had a week.
Naturally I finished all but one, and went back to sleeping in, jacuzzi parties, and chasing girls until the last day.
So there I was at the lab - the final hour - one quiz between staying or losing my spot at a high-demand University.
The computer lab was incredibly crowded: students and aides, gurus and the clueless; their friends and hecklers. Students were fighting to take the ridiculously easy quizzes.
This one was on character strings. I had 10 minutes for five questions - and now, the last question. Everyone fought over the computers constantly - it was almost anarchy in there. A bunch of other students were waiting, and looking over my shoulder in an annoying fashion.
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Question 5.
In the string “What a beautiful daydream!”, replace the 18th character with “G”.
Enter the result.
>__
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Easy! I rapidly counted over to the 18th spot. No... no way. This CAN’T be right.
Two minutes left.
I couldn’t believe it... did I HAVE to type that in front of other students? My college career depended on this... It must be wrong. Did someone set it up like this on purpose?
One minute left; I check again. Same answer.
With three or four students watching behind me, I type in the answer ‘string’:
“What a beautiful Gaydream!”
Blip! Congratulations, you have passed!
And my life remained on its intended crash-course with the future.
...your Invisible Pal
I was cocky going in.
Compared to high school, I found University life quite liberating... heady, indescribable, intoxicating.
It wasn’t any one particular thing.
It wasn’t the wild bathing-suit optional parties we had, jumping rich condo owner’s clubhouse fences to use their pools and jacuzzi’s after midnight. It wasn’t the street racing, it wasn’t getting drunk and wandering the huge drainage tunnels under the University.
It wasn’t even the girl that rubbed nipples against my back while whispering in my ear in the laundry room (that was an introduction I have yet to forget).
And so it was that my studies began to slip.
Yes, I could always get things done in a pinch; I was a quick study. But so was everyone else! I was no longer the whiz kid... I was just another guy.
I took a computer programming course - an easy “A”. I already knew everything, so rather than attend lectures I slept in, wasted time, chased girls and so forth.
It was an absolutely glorious fall.
One day, I attended the computer class for the sole reason of looking up a female friend. I never found her, but I discovered something awful. I would be kicked out if I didn’t have some ‘computer quizzes’ completed.
In fact, I was already on the ‘out’ list.
Only a sort of study contract would save me. Great. If I lost this course, I’d lose my ‘full schedule’, which in turn would affect my grants and my housing... and my University enrollment. How did it come down to *This*?
I had to make up about three quizzes in the lab. I had a week.
Naturally I finished all but one, and went back to sleeping in, jacuzzi parties, and chasing girls until the last day.
So there I was at the lab - the final hour - one quiz between staying or losing my spot at a high-demand University.
The computer lab was incredibly crowded: students and aides, gurus and the clueless; their friends and hecklers. Students were fighting to take the ridiculously easy quizzes.
This one was on character strings. I had 10 minutes for five questions - and now, the last question. Everyone fought over the computers constantly - it was almost anarchy in there. A bunch of other students were waiting, and looking over my shoulder in an annoying fashion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 5.
In the string “What a beautiful daydream!”, replace the 18th character with “G”.
Enter the result.
>__
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Easy! I rapidly counted over to the 18th spot. No... no way. This CAN’T be right.
Two minutes left.
I couldn’t believe it... did I HAVE to type that in front of other students? My college career depended on this... It must be wrong. Did someone set it up like this on purpose?
One minute left; I check again. Same answer.
With three or four students watching behind me, I type in the answer ‘string’:
“What a beautiful Gaydream!”
Blip! Congratulations, you have passed!
And my life remained on its intended crash-course with the future.
...your Invisible Pal