school days, school daze

I might have tanked a few classes

     The University of North Carolina may have an academic problem.  It seems several hundred students benefited by taking classes they didn't have to attend, take notes, pay attention, or read materials.
     And while the bulk of the students taking these classes were athletes, it seems non athletes also were given the opportunity to take a class where they had no lectures, readings, or attendance.  And since the classes were available to both non athletes and athletes, no NCAA rules may have been broken.
     Well, sad to admit, I also enrolled in classes where I didn't attend, take notes or read the materials.      And I paid for it.
     I enrolled in one class, criminology, which was rumored to be the largest lecture class in the US.
     There were several hundred students enrolled in the class.  There was no way to take attendance.   There was two announced quizzes, a mid term and a final.  That is all.
     The final was done like a group project.  That was not how it was designed.  But with so many kids in a lecture hall, there was no way to monitor the group.  People were yelling out answers to the multiple choice test:  21 is C; 14 is A; and on and on.
     I moved to the end of a row and took the test by myself, blocking out the distractions.
     I got an 86.  Not too bad, right?  The average for the test.....average....was 94!  And since he graded on a curve, my 86 was good for a D.  88 fwas a C.  88.
     I think I had the only D in a class of 400 people.
     I took an art history class.  That one I did attend.  It was preJackie and there were a couple of attractive girls in the class.  However, since I was in the midst of a severe acne breakout from the ages of 13 to 27, they were not too interested in me, no matter how many times I asked if Picasso's nose grew when he told a lie.
     But there were no books, no notes.  We looked at thousands of pictures.  The midterm and final consisted of watching a slide presentation and giving the correct artist for each painting.
I got a D in that.
     In case you don't get the drift here:  Rather unspectacular high school career.  ( I graduated in the upper half....by two people.  But it was the upper half.)  Less than stellar college career.  (I hold the record for final academic probation at NIU.....3 semesters.)
     In general, I was a lazy student.  I don't know if I was a dumb student, but I never did apply myself.
     It wasn't until I started taking courses I actually liked that I did well.  Or at least better.
     And at age 66, that is one of the lessons I have learned in life.  We do things well that we enjoy doing.  We suck at things we don't enjoy doing.
     I pour a great glass of wine.  I cut an excellent slice of cheese.  I sit on the porch very well.
     I have found my time in life to be like a class from UNC.  I don't have to do anything and I still pass.