Model Student
The clock was at 9:55 as I walked into my World History lecture. There were several students around me who had arrived early and were already set up. I made my way to one of the seats, got my stuff out, and at 10 AM sharp Prof. Elwyn began to lecture. I’ll admit, for a gen ed history professor, he had made these first few weeks of class pretty enjoyable. He was the type of guy who knew a lot of stuff about the history of the world, and was eager to share his accumulated knowledge with us. The type of professor who almost seemed on another level with his smarts. At the very least, he made taking history as a college junior bearable.
“Today, class, we’ll be talking about the earliest days of civilization,” he began, “the time known as ‘Before the Current Era’. What’s interesting about this period is that due to the relative lack of artefacts and documents, historians have to be creative in how they construct understandings of what the people of these times were like. This is why studying history is so important: those who truly understand history can control the narrative of how humans lived. It’s almost as if-”
Prof. Elwyn’s lecture was then interrupted, as it had been the last few weeks, as Manny strolled in ten minutes late and dropped into the back of the classroom, playing music on his phone and slurping on the end of a Big Gulp soda.
Manny and I were in the same grade, and throughout my time here he had always been a pretty bad student. He was always late to class (on those days when he attended), and I don’t think I had ever seen him do homework. He preferred to hang out with his group of friends, usually going out to the bar rather than doing any kind of studying.
He didn’t bother me too much (it wasn’t my tuition he was wasting, after all), but when he got in the way of professors doing their job like today, it was hard to ignore how much of a jackass he was.
Prof. Elwyn sighed as Manny came in, and simply stared at him while he caused this scene. After a few moments, Prof. Elwyn calmly but firmly asked “Manny, please turn off that music.” Manny obliged, but took his sweet time to hit pause.
Prof. Elwyn continued “This is the third time this week you’ve arrived late and caused a scene. You’re interfering with your fellow students’ ability to learn, and that’s not fair to them. If you’re going to remain in this class, I’m going to need to see improvement in your behavior.”
Manny scoffed, putting his feet up on the desk. “Dude, you really think this class is important enough for you to be demanding shit from me? This is a fucking gen ed, nobody wants to be here. Let me sit back, get my C, and go on with my day.”
One of the students closer to the front spoke up “He’s always been like this, Professor, I’m sorry.”
“Hey, shut up!” Manny angrily retorted.
Prof. Elywn let out another sigh at Manny’s reaction “I really do see the makings of a great student in you, if you actually tried. If only your history had been different.”
And without saying another word, Prof Elwyn raised his right hand and snapped.
The clock was at 9:55 as I walked into my World History lecture. There were several students around me who had arrived early and were already set up. One of them, currently at the front of the class turning in his homework, was Manuel. As I settled into my seat, I noticed he seemed to be having a good-natured conversation with the professor about something relating to Ancient Egypt. That didn’t surprise me; Manuel and I had been going to school together for 3 years, and he had to be one of the smartest and hardest working guys on campus. You pretty much had to in order to be an International Business and Finance double major like he was. It was clear he took college a lot more seriously than half the people here. To be fair, you could probably guess that just by looking at him: he dressed nicely for class every single day. I don’t think I had ever seen him without a collared shirt and dress pants. His hair was always combed nicely and he almost always had a textbook or two in hand.
We weren’t close friends, but we were friendly. He was nice to pretty much everyone, always willing to share answers and help people learn the material. He did seem like he had a bit of a stick up his ass sometimes, but that was just to do with how seriously he took school. Every time we were paired up for a group project, I knew we would get an A. That was reason enough to like him.
“I finished that book you recommended about the pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty. I had never learned about Menkaure like that before!” I heard Manuel say to Prof. Elwyn.
“Well I’m glad you enjoyed it! If you’re interested in the rest of the series, stop by my office. I have a few of the books and you’re more than welcome to borrow them.” Prof. Elwyn responded.
“Will do!” Manuel beamed. He noticed the clock had hit 10:00, and he returned to his seat in the front row with his notebook set up, including no fewer than five different colored highlighters.
“Today, class, we’ll be talking about the earliest days of civilization,” Prof. Elwyn began his lecture, “the time known as ‘Before the Current Era’. And studying this period is one of my favorite things to do, because historians use such creative methods to tell the story ancient civilizations. Those who truly understand history can control the narrative of how these people lived.”
He gave us all a knowing smile “And believe me, that’s quite the power to have.”
He opened a PowerPoint and continued on with the lecture. I intermittently took notes, trying to keep up as best I could. If nothing else, I knew I could ask Manuel for his notes after class. I had seen that guy’s notebook before, and Jesus. It could probably qualify as an encyclopedia. It was nice having at least one good student in the classroom.