Friday Five

Three out of four of our kids are currently in college, so we often discuss the strange/odd/sad things that happen in a class. Here are five of the oddest things that have happened in classes. If you have any to add, we'd love to hear them. 

1. During a final exam, the guy seated next to me began biting small chunks out of his skin. Seriously. He left divots in his forearm. He also tried to cheat from my exam, so I ended up draping my body over my exam.

2. Once in a lecture, my husband leaned over to his friend (who was always doing other work in class) and said, “Hey, the prof asked you a question.” So his friend all of a sudden began talking randomly during the middle of the prof’s lecture.

3. In Ariel’s math exams, students have been known to wall the halls doing deep breathing or chugging Peptobismal.

4. My husband has amazing eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. When he was in grade school, he used to catch a fly and then take a long strand of hair (donated by the girl in front of him) and tie the hair around the fly. Then he’d tape the hair onto his desk. The fly would buzz around in circles.

5. One of the oddest class stories happened at MIT with Prof August Witt. Apparently, a fencer dressed in black and carrying a saber interrupted his lecture and announced, "August Witt! For too many years you have bored the freshman with your talk of molecules and elements, and I have come to put a stop to it! Defend yourself!" At that point, a fencer dressed all in white entered and prepared to defend Prof Witt. Then, Witt announced that he’d defend himself. It turns out that Witt was the three time National Fencing Champion of Austria. You can read the full story here.