Doing Well by Having Fun II

Rather than discussing the student we spent about an hour with today explaining why, since he hadn't done more than half the work for the class, he was receiving a failing grade--rather than discussing that, we say, we thought we'd share another winning student essay with Solipsist Nation.

(Digression: On TV right now is "Psycho IV: The Beginning." Parse that title, if you will. EOD)

The topic was "Think about a specific goal that you hope to accomplish. Discuss some of the steps you think you will need to take to accomplish that goal." Generally, the responses run a predictable gamut: get a college diploma, play in the NBA/NFL, become a nurse, blah blah blah, yawwwwwwwnnnnn! Imagine our delight, then, when we read the following (we paraphrase, but assure the Nation we are not taking liberties with the student's content):

"Ever since I was eight years old, I have had a goal: to pose for Playboy magazine."

Did we need to read more? She had us at Playboy. Being a conscientious teacher, though, YNSHC soldiered on.

What became immediately apparent was the girl's sincerity. She's obviously given this a great deal of thought. The steps she described were logical enough: To exercise and keep herself in good shape (obviously); to practice her interviewing technique because "Playboy doesn't want any airheads"; and to develop her self-confidence because "it could be intimidating being in a room with 40 naked women."

Speak for yourself.

At any rate, despite its outre nature, this was clearly a passing essay. The proverbial cherry on top, though, came with the grading. Recall that these essays are read by two instructors. The Solipsist read the essay first, passed it, and then handed it off to another instructor. The second instructor agreed that it was, overall, a good essay, although she thought the paragraphs could use more detail. That's not what she wrote on the feedback sheet, though. She wrote, with no pun intended (we know this instructor--there was no pun intended):

"Overall, this essay is good, but your body needs more development."

Snort!