A little jaunt down memory lane
How the hell did I get admitted into grad school? Tonight I found a file folder containing a whole bunch of exams and essays I wrote for my undergraduate history (and related) classes.
Among the high points:
- The final essay exam for History 17A (US to 1877, Fall 1996), which was 27 pages long and contained 78 footnotes, most of them from Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States. I might bring it in when my students gripe about the 5-7 pager due in a couple weeks.
- A midterm for Government 134 (The Mass Media and the Cold War, Fall 1999) on journalists' overreliance on government sources for information, which contains three "Excellents!"
- An "excellent final paper" for History 177 (African American History, Fall 2000), with a score of 100%. I've never given a perfect score to any of my students.
Among the low points:
- A paper on the mass media for History 10 (US since 1877, Fall 1994), where the professor noted four times that I had no thesis.
- An essay for Political Science 2 (Introduction to American Government, Fall 1995) on the Constitution's description of the executive branch, which had no comments whatsoever except for the big red C+ 78% on the front.
- The midterm for History 143A (Middle Eastern History to 1800, Spring 1997), with a shiny 72% and lots of "incomplete" and "no!" comments.
- A paper for History 159 (US Foreign Policy, Fall 1997), where the grad student who took over the class after the professor died of cancer commented, "a very good, though incomplete paper. You seem to have not answered question 4, and you definitely did not answer question 6. I must ask, why?"
- The midterm for History 159, where I earned a stunning 24.5 out of 50 points. History 159 did not go well, obviously, but I can't remember why.
See, all you underachieving undergrads? You too can one day end up in grad school.