But after the group work was done, I refused to write the paper. I told the professor my reasons for declining the assignment and that I accepted the consequences. He gave me a quizzical look, but he seemed to understand. I thought it best to tell him in advance, so he wouldn’t be left hanging waiting for me to turn it in. By declining to write the paper, I earned a zero on the whole project, even though I contributed to the group work. Sure enough I received an A- as my final grade in the class.
That was about 14 years ago. Do you think to this day anyone cares that I didn’t write that paper? The funny thing is that my refusal to do that assignment actually created more value than doing it because it gave me a good story, one that I can use to make a point. Had I actually written that paper, I can assure you that every word would have been long forgotten by now. But the story is actually worth something. With 14 years of hindsight, I definitely feel I made the right choice. I’m not seeing a lot of gestural language work on my plate these days. : )
I’m sure that paper seemed important to the professor and to the other students at the time,
but for me it was merely urgent. School assignments can be valuable, but many are just busywork. Don’t let other people’s agendas influence your own without some conscious filtering.
난 숙제를 안하면서도 A-를 받거나 숙제를 안하는 이유에 대해서 교수에게 말해본 적은없지만,
난 대학 시절에 대부분의 숙제를 하지 않았다. 얼마전에 이 글을 보면서, 그 당시 '싫은 숙제' 를 열심히 하던 친구(?)들에게 내가 하고 싶던 말이기도 했다. - 라지만 난 죽어도 이런 말을 못했을 것이다.- 내가 의아하게 생각했던 다른 하나는, 학생들이 시험을 '싫어' 하는 것이었다. 물론 나는 시험을 싫어했고, 그래서 영원히 보고 싶지도 않았다. 하지만 대부분의 학생들은 시험을 싫어하면서도 막상 시험을 안보면 불만이거나 시험이란게 없어지면 불안해 했을 것이다. 정말로.
위 글의 출처는
부끄러워서 알리고 싶지 않다.
내가 아닌 누군가 썼음.