Interview with the "B" I got in Evidence*
[*Ed. note: I did not actually take Evidence. So the B is not a real grade. Just to unnecessarily clear that up.]
[Ed. note #2: This came out less funny than I imagined it would. My bad.]
INTERVIEWER: It's nice of you to take time to sit down with us this morning. Thanks.
B: Well, it's between grading periods, so I don't have that much to do. Come May, I'll be quite busy.
INTERVIEWER: I wanted to talk to you about how you ended up on the transcript, as the evidence grade.
B: I was bubbled in.
INTERVIEWER: Yes, I understand -- but take me back further than that. How did you get chosen for the task, as opposed to one of your colleagues elsewhere in the alphabet?
B: Well, the professor and I go way back -- I'm one of her favorite grades, and she often calls on me when, well, nothing else really makes sense.
INTERVIEWER: What do you mean?
B: My good friend A, and I don't mean at all to disparage his fine work, but he has the easy job. His papers stand out. There's something different about them, something special. Everything's spelled right, there are attractive bold subheads, the cases are properly used, there's a real understanding of the material demonstrated. His slightly retarded brother, A-, also has a pretty easy task. You know, maybe there's some faulty logic or some rough spots, but it's pretty good stuff he's dealing with.
INTERVIEWER: And then there's you?
B: Well, yeah. I mean, for stuff that's truly bad -- truly, obviously bad -- I have colleagues who deal with that. C, D, F, sometimes L. But, I mean, those are the papers where it's not clear they've taken the same exam as everyone else, or sat through the same class. But, yeah, then there's me. For the morass of papers in the middle. Who knows what happened -- they had a mental block, they just didn't know the material well enough, misread the question, shallow analysis, sloppy execution, ran out of time, etc, etc, etc. So that's where I come in.
INTERVIEWER: And you provide a valuable service, reminding students they can do better, but also that they could have done worse?
B: No, not really. But the pay is good.
[*Ed. note: I did not actually take Evidence. So the B is not a real grade. Just to unnecessarily clear that up.]
[Ed. note #2: This came out less funny than I imagined it would. My bad.]
INTERVIEWER: It's nice of you to take time to sit down with us this morning. Thanks.
B: Well, it's between grading periods, so I don't have that much to do. Come May, I'll be quite busy.
INTERVIEWER: I wanted to talk to you about how you ended up on the transcript, as the evidence grade.
B: I was bubbled in.
INTERVIEWER: Yes, I understand -- but take me back further than that. How did you get chosen for the task, as opposed to one of your colleagues elsewhere in the alphabet?
B: Well, the professor and I go way back -- I'm one of her favorite grades, and she often calls on me when, well, nothing else really makes sense.
INTERVIEWER: What do you mean?
B: My good friend A, and I don't mean at all to disparage his fine work, but he has the easy job. His papers stand out. There's something different about them, something special. Everything's spelled right, there are attractive bold subheads, the cases are properly used, there's a real understanding of the material demonstrated. His slightly retarded brother, A-, also has a pretty easy task. You know, maybe there's some faulty logic or some rough spots, but it's pretty good stuff he's dealing with.
INTERVIEWER: And then there's you?
B: Well, yeah. I mean, for stuff that's truly bad -- truly, obviously bad -- I have colleagues who deal with that. C, D, F, sometimes L. But, I mean, those are the papers where it's not clear they've taken the same exam as everyone else, or sat through the same class. But, yeah, then there's me. For the morass of papers in the middle. Who knows what happened -- they had a mental block, they just didn't know the material well enough, misread the question, shallow analysis, sloppy execution, ran out of time, etc, etc, etc. So that's where I come in.
INTERVIEWER: And you provide a valuable service, reminding students they can do better, but also that they could have done worse?
B: No, not really. But the pay is good.
posted by Anonymous @ 11:17 AM
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