First Fail

8^th January 2012

Dear Cassi,

The first assignment I turned in to grad school was given a do over. I guess I should be glad they let me rewrite it, but I rather felt the teacher was less than tactful about the whole thing. I mean, she wanted a more “professional” paper, but we are just students.

       

It was my first paper for this school, and I had no idea what to expect. Not only that but I turned it in a full day before any other student. You would think that would have counted for something. I did turn the second copy in last out of the class I think, however, I was still within the standard due dates so I should not be penalized.

       

I’m so sick at this point that I can only work for a good forty minutes at a time. Around that time I need to stop and sleep some. I have no memory of ever coughing this hard, and that has to have a negative impact on my work.

       

I feel rotten and I perform in a rotten manner. The worst of this is that having one bad week in this grad school can have a much larger impact on your grade than in most other schools. I think the teachers are a little more understanding, but as a graduate student a C is no longer considered a passing grade.

       

To add insult to injury the two classes I have do not operate on the same standard for what is and is not acceptable in a paper. One class requires me to post the work in the forum and the other as an attachment. One class requires two page papers and the other five. The whole thing is a jumble of loosely fitting parts made to be a cart but swishing across the road hither and thither with no real direction.

I hope you feel better than I,

Richard Leland Neal