Midterms Can Be Rough.

This week I took a midterm for my Mechanics of Solids class and boy, let me tell you, that exam was no joke.

The material was already plenty challenging on its own, but after I finished and spent the full two hours going back through my work, my professor emailed me to let me know he had forgotten to remove part B of the first question. We're talking hand-drawn plots with fraction values like 441/45000. Not exactly a fun surprise to find out after the fact. The silver lining is that he's giving extra credit for any work done on that section, so it ended up working in my favor.

But more than the extra credit, it was a good reminder that everyone is human. Professors included. There's something oddly grounding about seeing that even the people teaching the material can make mistakes. It made me feel more in control of my own education in a way. At the end of the day, my degree is going to reflect the effort I put into it, not just how well the people around me have it together. That's actually a motivating thought when you sit with it long enough. And honestly, moments like this don't take away from how grateful I am to learn from the faculty I get to sit in front of every semester. World class people, genuinely.

Until next week, I'm praying for you,

James

How have you bounced back from a challenging experience when someone admitted a mistake? Was it hard to accept?