“My name is Teresa. I’m not in any of your classes.” She steps fully into the room. She’s wearing the unofficial college-girl uniform: jeans, school hoodie, flip flops.
“How can I help you?”
“Have you graded the Physics 101 midterms? From last Thursday?”
Ann Marie nods, wondering why this would matter to a girl that’s not in her class.
“Well, then you’ve already been subjected to Mac’s immaturity. Mac Allen.”
Ann Marie nods again, interested to see where this is going.
“I, somewhat unfortunately,” she enunciates, raising her voice and turning back toward the open door, “am Mac’s girlfriend. He told me about his hilarious test answer and I was, of course, appalled. I’ve come to explain that Mac wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, he’s just an idiot sometimes. Please give him whatever grade you feel he deserves, but he has something to say.” She waits a beat before repeating: “He has something to say.”
Mac appears in the doorway, dressed almost identically to his girlfriend, head hanging low.
“Professor Strobeck —” he starts, eyes glued to the floor tiles. Teresa elbows him. He looks up and meets Ann Marie’s eyes, starts again: “Professor Strobeck, I’ve come to apologize for my immature behavior. Sometimes I just don’t think.” He drops his eyes again, Teresa coughs, and he looks up before finishing: “I understand if I receive a poor grade on this assignment, but I hope my error in judgment doesn’t prevent me from succeeding in your class overall.” Teresa smiles. Mac obviously practiced.
“I really like physics!” Mac adds spontaneously.
“Mac, have a seat,” Ann Marie says. “Teresa, I’ll take it from here.” Teresa nods and exits, closing the door behind her.
“I’ve decided to let it slide.” Ann Marie pulls his paper, already marked with an A, from her bag, and hands it to Mac. “I found it funny, personally, but for some of my colleagues, this would really cross a line.” Ann Marie nods toward the closed door. “You’ve obviously learned your lesson. I’m sure you’ll be more careful in the future.”
“I really will.” Mac nods vigorously.
“So you like physics?”
“Yeah, I really do. I didn’t get to take it in high school even though I wanted to. Some dumb scheduling conflict or something. Physics just…” he struggles for a moment: “It just makes sense of things, you know?”
“I do; I know exactly what you mean. The first time I took physics, something just clicked. It’s a set of rules for how the whole universe works. In effect, it makes sense of everything.”
“I’ve been thinking I’ll take Intermediate Physics next semester. And maybe Intro Engineering or Astronomy, too.”
Ann Marie nods. “Can you hang on a minute, Mac?” Ann Marie gets up and exits her small office, smiles at Teresa waiting patiently in the hall.
“The independent study form?” Ann Marie asks the department secretary.
“The light green one.” The woman points at the turnstile rack of colored copies in the corner. Ann Marie spins it slowly and scans past titles like “Changing an Incomplete” and “Declaring a Minor” before finding what she’s looking for.
Back in her office, Ann Marie leaves the door open for Teresa’s benefit and lays the mint green sheet of paper in front of Mac.
“You’ll have to write a proposal and get the Chair to sign off, but I’d like you to be a classroom assistant in one of my sections of Physics 101 next semester. It would count as a one-credit independent study.”
“Classroom assistant?”
“Mac, all your test answers were incredibly thorough. They contained not only the correct answers, but also concrete, relatable metaphors that illustrated each concept. Even #51, though it was a bit inappropriate. I really think that other students would benefit from your take on the material. I can see you becoming not only a successful student of physics, but a successful teacher of physics someday, too. And it may be that I also need some help with my research next semester. Compiling data, typing lab notes, things like that.”
“Wait a minute, let me get this straight: I’m not in trouble and you want to give me a job?”
“More like an apprenticeship really.”
Mac smiles and picks up the green sheet of paper. He stands and hoists his backpack onto his shoulder. “I’ll have this ready by class on Thursday. Thank you so much.”
“No problem. After all, helping promising students is kind of my job.”
“See you in class.” Mac waves as he exits.
Ann Marie can hear Teresa in the hall: “I swear to God these things only happen to you…”
About Jenna B. Morgan
