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May. 15th, 2005 11:14 amWho ever said it was a good idea to take college classes, work full time, buy a house, move to this house, travel to San Francisco, take voice lessons, and continue to maintain a regular practice and performance schedule with a band, all at pretty much the same time commencing roughly this past winter, wasn't entirely crazy. Maybe a little bit. But I survived and feel pretty good. The final exam for my class yesterday marked the end of this slightly crazy time. Bring on summer vacation.
I think the exam went well. There is one highlight worth mentioning.
Overall, University of Virginia kids are a fairly homogeneous bunch. Slightly conservative, dressing from nice colorful T-shirt & jeans to the business casual you might find in an office. In the school of engineering, the students consist primarily of white males. So, when someone stands out in this group, I am easily intrigued. I'm sure many in this undergrad class were looking at me wondering, "Who's that unshaven old guy with the long hair and black clothes?" "Working professional" probably doesn't top the list. While I'd like them to think "rock star," they're probably guessing "burn out who finally got his priorities straight and is returning to school."
Anyway, another guy caught my attention. Picture a tiny chinese guy who looks about 15 years old. He's skinny, bespectacled, and pale (well, pale for a chinese guy). He dresses in over-sized business casual. The kid may even have a pocket protector, but I think that's just my wishful imagination. He moves quickly and walks with a hunched posture that suggests he's still anticipating a beating from the school bully at any given moment. We shared a computer architecture class in the Fall. After two semesters, I got the sense that he's real smart, or at least real dedicated to school. I considered his chip architecture design to be a work of art and I'm generally not geeky enough to be turned on by such things.
So, yesterday, it's final exam time. Everyone in the class has the test and we're hunkered down, filling in scantron bubbles with intensity. All of us want to finish early and go home while still managing to do well, so we're fast, furious, and quiet. Above all, quiet and totally absorbed with the papers on the tables in front of us. An hour into the scheduled exam period, the door to the classroom bursts open. The little chinese guy is standing in the doorway with an absolutely shell-shocked expression on his face. The kid looks like he had just been caught with his pants down in the professor's daughter's bedroom after a long night drinking Shirley Temples spiked with vodka and he had run all the way to class, holding up his pants with one hand and waving away bully attacks with the other. He stands for a full minute, swaying on his heels, one hand compulsively running through his hair in that "oh-my-god-what-have-done" gesture, and occasionally grinning in a guilty way that said, "I really shouldn't have agreed to play doctor with the professor's daughter last night." We're all looking at him, respectfully trying not to laugh while we fill in more scantron bubbles. Eventually, he turns toward the teacher's assistant and jumps a bit in surprise at a sudden understanding of what it is he's supposed to be doing. He runs to the TA, grabs the test materials, and scurries to an empty seat in the classroom.
Probably, you had to be there. But it was a priceless moment for me. I left the exam room rather late and he was still there pounding away at it, one of five students left in the room. However, there was still an hour left to go in the allotted time, so I'm sure he still did well.
I think the exam went well. There is one highlight worth mentioning.
Overall, University of Virginia kids are a fairly homogeneous bunch. Slightly conservative, dressing from nice colorful T-shirt & jeans to the business casual you might find in an office. In the school of engineering, the students consist primarily of white males. So, when someone stands out in this group, I am easily intrigued. I'm sure many in this undergrad class were looking at me wondering, "Who's that unshaven old guy with the long hair and black clothes?" "Working professional" probably doesn't top the list. While I'd like them to think "rock star," they're probably guessing "burn out who finally got his priorities straight and is returning to school."
Anyway, another guy caught my attention. Picture a tiny chinese guy who looks about 15 years old. He's skinny, bespectacled, and pale (well, pale for a chinese guy). He dresses in over-sized business casual. The kid may even have a pocket protector, but I think that's just my wishful imagination. He moves quickly and walks with a hunched posture that suggests he's still anticipating a beating from the school bully at any given moment. We shared a computer architecture class in the Fall. After two semesters, I got the sense that he's real smart, or at least real dedicated to school. I considered his chip architecture design to be a work of art and I'm generally not geeky enough to be turned on by such things.
So, yesterday, it's final exam time. Everyone in the class has the test and we're hunkered down, filling in scantron bubbles with intensity. All of us want to finish early and go home while still managing to do well, so we're fast, furious, and quiet. Above all, quiet and totally absorbed with the papers on the tables in front of us. An hour into the scheduled exam period, the door to the classroom bursts open. The little chinese guy is standing in the doorway with an absolutely shell-shocked expression on his face. The kid looks like he had just been caught with his pants down in the professor's daughter's bedroom after a long night drinking Shirley Temples spiked with vodka and he had run all the way to class, holding up his pants with one hand and waving away bully attacks with the other. He stands for a full minute, swaying on his heels, one hand compulsively running through his hair in that "oh-my-god-what-have-done" gesture, and occasionally grinning in a guilty way that said, "I really shouldn't have agreed to play doctor with the professor's daughter last night." We're all looking at him, respectfully trying not to laugh while we fill in more scantron bubbles. Eventually, he turns toward the teacher's assistant and jumps a bit in surprise at a sudden understanding of what it is he's supposed to be doing. He runs to the TA, grabs the test materials, and scurries to an empty seat in the classroom.
Probably, you had to be there. But it was a priceless moment for me. I left the exam room rather late and he was still there pounding away at it, one of five students left in the room. However, there was still an hour left to go in the allotted time, so I'm sure he still did well.
