Strange things, and a conscience.

My anatomy final was this morning at 8:00. Along with a surge of relief, it brought with it a strange chain of events...

When my alarm goes off at 6:15, I'm jolted away from a dream about brains. In my dream I was holding an intact human brain, and the cerebellum started falling away in sections, dangling from the brainstem by its arbor vitae (which I don't think is anatomically possible, but there you have it). Awake and confused, I get out of bed and putter to the kitchen for a clementine and a glass of water, and a spot of review before heading off to the test.

I get to Urey just before the test starts, my stomach in knots. Dr. Westphal is known for giving ridiculously hard exams. I get my copy and look through the first few questions. They're different from those on earlier tests. I'm dumbstuck - these questions are so much better than we've had in the past! It's really almost like someone else wrote the exam. A flood of relief comes and I get to work.

After finishing the test I head over to the health sciences building to pick up my graded lab practical exam. I check the sheet hanging on the bulletin, and I'm floored to see a 94 next to my id number. I'm usually a little giddy and disbelieving when my grade is higher than I anticipated, but this time I'm sure they messed up my score. I go in and pick up my exam, and sure enough, I got an 84. I recount the points several times, and double check the posted scores. Definitely a typo. The only hard evidence of this is clutched in my now sweating hands. This extra ten points could all but ensure me a 'B' for the semester. This class has been unfairly graded all semester, and it's caused me endless hours of fretting and misery. And now, someone has inadvertently handed me a better grade. So what next?

I walk into the room, head shaking in mild disbelief. I hand my test to Dave and tell him my score is wrong on the spreadsheet. He asks what is posted, and I tell him. He looks at me like I'm sprouting antlers, and says that my honesty kills him.

Yeah, it kills me too.

If, at 1:30 this morning when I was feverishly cramming for this final, you had asked me what I would do in this exact senario, I would have responded (without missing a beat) "keep my mouth shut".

It's nice to find out you're a better person than you think you are.