My time at university yielded many ups and downs. I've been mulling this over for quite a while and im ashamed to say that not many involve academic achievements or shortcomings. Forensic Science was a fun course filled with variety but lacked drama. I've found two small stories that'll give this one some bulk.
There was the time where i had a 10% mark in an essay because i was misled as to what my lecturer wanted and i took the title too literally. That lecturer was a cock and told me that I would've understood more if i attended lectures. I went to every one! They were boring so i slept through one or two. Or doodled. So that was tough, i suppose. My retake saw my passing after much convincing on my part for him to accept it. That was stressful.
During my third year, where most students have to slog through a dissertation, I had what was called a research project. I had to research how specific molecules are used in forensic science (I've forgotten the title and it's on my previous laptop). I then had to present my findings to two lecturers and a class of 15 peers. I had many months to prepare a thirty minute presentation and fifteen minute Q&A and i wasn't ready. I was the last student in the whole class of 80 or so to have to do my presentation. I could tell that the lecturers were getting impatient, one in particular was getting belligerent and pushy, cutting people off during their explanations. I watched her cut apart five students ahead of me and i started to get pterodactyls in my stomach. My name was called. "Hi, Im Dafydd and im here to talk about ......". I got into it quite nicely and everyone looked polite but bored. I don't blame them, they'd just finished they're presentation and were relaxing but trying to be supportive. One lecturer looked a little like the students, the other looked like a bored, annoyed, wrong-side-of-thirty-to-be-single, australian bitch. I didn't let my awareness of the room break my flow, It actually helped a little. "What do you mean by the phrase ....?" I was baffled attempted the answer without nervous stammering. "And what does this lead to?" She pushed.
"I was just coming to that, basically....." I did everything i could to push her away until my thirty minutes were done but she persisted to be a bitch. During the last question she attempted i cut across her "Im sorry, isn't there a Q&A after this? Don't you think it'd be better to write down these questions and ask them then? You don't seem to be asking out of interest. It seems like you're asking in an attempt to break us all down. Forgive me for this but it's quite rude. Can you let me continue? I'll answer any questions when im done. I won't be long now."
"Continue" said the polite lecturer after a slight pause. So i did, but i hadn't won yet. She did write her questions down and very kindly asked them all at once. I wont lie, it really tripped me up and i misplaced my words. I shook my head and made a daft noise which tickled the students. "Im sorry, can you repeat the questions? One at a time if that's ok.". The pterodactyls somehow grew as soon as i said it but she seemed to have a sense of humor about it and smiled. Then asked one at a time and waited for each answer. Some i knew, some had me consulting my notes and one i flat out didn't know. She dished out a little grief for that and then concluded my presentation. I grabbed my bag, rushed out without talking to anyone and teleported to my house where my friends handed me a can of cider and i got ready for my birthday night out. That was a pretty good moment.
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