Second Chances

So... remember that 20-page West European Politics paper? Well, after working on it from about 5pm Sunday to 4am Monday, and then from 7:30am to 12pm Monday, I had completed approximately five pages. But I sent it off by email to my instructor, because that's when it was due. I then took a hard copy to deliver to him before 2pm, after I had taken a much-needed shower.
I happened to encounter him in the hallway, whereupon he simply stared at me, apparently waiting for me to gush excuses. Of course, I couldn't really offer any. He stared at me for about ten seconds (which is a lot of time to stare if you really think about it). He finally asked in an exasperated fashion, "what happened?"

I had no real answer, just shrugging my shoulders and replying, "I'm at a loss. I don't know."

He continued to stare. I motioned that I was going down the hall to deliver the paper to his mailbox, and we both turned and walked in opposite directions.

I had taken about 5 steps when I heard, "BRAKE!" shouted at me. Professor Muller and I were about 20 paces from each other and he asked me, "would another week help?"

I had already emailed him my plight - that I'm going to have to average over one paper per evening until Friday, and my mind was silently crying out, NO! I just wanted it to be over - to take my shitty grade on my half-assed research paper (hmm...5/20... make that "quarter-assed") and be done with it so I didn't have to devote any more waking hours to it. I don't really even have enough research to make it into 20 pages if I wanted to.

But I said, "It might." He informed me that his grades didn't have to be in until next Monday and to get it to him by then. The poor guy is under the impression that I'm a good student.

Before you laugh at that, I did get a B on the first exam (consisting of three separately graded essays written in class -B,B, and C) and then aced the second (A, A, and A), which earned me the first smiley face from a college professor that I've received or am likely to ever receive. The point is, I had gotten his hopes up, and now I was dashing them.

As much as I want this freaking semester to be over, now I'm stuck with one more weekend. And I'm sure that won't be especially productive, because I'll be working late Saturday and Sunday and in no mood to write this awful paper on the Socialist parties in the European Parliament.

When are these people going to realize that when they give me second chances, they're just giving me another opportunity to disappoint them? AAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

I've worked out a nice little schedule for myself for the rest of this week, though. If I stay on task - no, that's not funny...stop laughing - then I should have enough time for everything.

The only problem is that I'm not quite sure when I'm going to be able to sleep.