The Final Exam

There is a woman in college majoring in English. In order to graduate, she has to take one course in math. She doesn’t like math and has been avoiding taking the course. She is in her senior year and has waited until her final semester to take the course. Her friends provided suggestions in terms of which instructors to choose and she has enrolled in one of their classes.

During the first class, she learned what textbooks she would need. She goes to the bookstore to purchase the books. She needs to purchase one textbook and there is an optional workbook that you can also purchase. The workbook includes the answers to the questions at the end of each chapter. The textbook is available, but in the area where the workbook is located, there is a sign that says “Out of Stock” with a date that indicates when the workbook should be available.

The woman becomes friendly with another student that she meets in her section. They share a common dislike with math and discuss how hard the questions are at the end of each chapter. The woman notices that the other student has the workbook and says, “I see you have the workbook. When I went to buy it at the bookstore, it was out of stock. Is it helpful?”

The student replies, “You don’t have it? You really need it. It helps explain how to solve the math problems. You can make a copy of each chapter’s answers using mine until you get yours.”

The woman is somewhat relieved as she has been having a hard time answering the questions at the end of each chapter. After the section class, they go to the library so she can make a copy of the answers for the following week’s chapter.

The woman does not pass the mid-term exam. Although she studied for it, she was falling behind in terms of understanding the information. Her friend with the workbook came down with pneumonia and had been missing from class for a few weeks so she no longer had access to the workbook.

To help her with the coursework, she joins a study group and meets with a teaching assistant during their “office hours”. She also meets with a tutor. Before the final exam, she takes several practice exams. She reads and re-reads each chapter. She spends several hours each day working on the math problems, and checking her answers in the workbook that she was finally able to obtain.

She is very nervous for several weeks before the final exam. She is under a lot of pressure because if she does not pass the final exam, there is a good chance that she may not be able to graduate.

She reaches the day of the final exam. She is somewhat relieved when she reads the first question, “Explain what a derivative is and include an example.”

She responds with the following, “Once upon a time there were a few rabbits that lived underneath the trees and shrubs. They were always on the lookout for food and came across a garden that was full of fruit and vegetables. They were known to eat the fruits and vegetables in the garden. The owner of the garden must have noticed that the rabbits were eating the food from the garden and started spraying the fruits and vegetables so they would taste bitter. The rabbits would use their sense of smell to locate the fruits and vegetables that were most edible. The owner of the garden eventually put up a fence to keep the rabbits out of the garden, but the rabbits were able to jump over the fence so they could continue eating the food in the garden.

The point of the story is that if the rabbits are the exponent, they jump over the variable to reach the number (garden). The new number is then used to solve the equation.”

She then provides an example and does her best to answer the other questions in the exam.

On the date when the final exam results are available, the woman goes to look outside the instructor’s office door to see her results. She locates her student I.D. number, and is disappointed when she sees the words “See me” in the area where a grade should be posted.

She fears for the worst and assumes she did not pass the exam, and is now concerned that she may not be able to graduate. She goes to visit the instructor during office hours.

When it’s her turn, she steps inside the office and introduces herself. She then says, “I went to check my final exam grade and it said I should see you.”

The instructor looks through a stack of exam booklets to locate her exam, and then says, “I’ve been an instructor here for many years and I have to say your answers were very insightful. I try to design my exams to make sure students understand the information and the stories you included for each question were very original. What is your major?”

The woman is slightly relieved and says, “I’m an English major.”

The instructor says, “You got a B+. You answered the questions that asked for a description correctly, but missed the final question. The final question asked (writers note: this is a made-up example), ‘Write and solve the derivative if a story had 600 words, and 100 of the words are three letter words that include two l’s. Hint: use l square.’

The instructor continues, you wrote, “I don’t know, but I could write a story using those 600 words.”

The woman says, “Time was called and I must have panicked.”

The instructor explains the answer to the question and complements her on her hard work throughout the semester, and then asks, “What are your plans after you graduate?”

The woman says, “I am planning to get a teaching degree so I can teach English.”

The woman leaves the instructor’s office and is relieved to have passed the course. She goes on to get a teaching degree and eventually teaches English. One day, as a few of her students are getting ready to leave her class, she hears them talk nervously about an upcoming math exam.

The woman says, “Make sure you study hard. When I was in college, I almost failed my final exam in math.”

The students look at her as their eyes grow wide. One of the students says, “You did?”

The woman replies, “Yes, and if I didn’t pass, I would not have graduated.”

The students leave the classroom and she can hear them in the hallway as one of them says, “Did you hear that? Mrs. Essee almost failed a math exam in college!”

From that point on, the small pranks her students would sometimes play went away as they seemed to have reached a common ground.