Grace Illustrated

So it's time to take finals. I'm taking three classes: Organic Chemistry, where the final is optional, Microbiology, where I can get a zero on the final and still get a C in the class, and Anatomy. Out of all my finals, Anatomy is the important one. There are only three grades in the class, all tests, the final being the last one. Not only do I have to take the final, I have to do well on it.

If you go to the University Web Site, you can see when all of the exams are going to be. My Anatomy lab was on Mondays at 12:20. This means that the exam is on Thursday morning from 8:00-10:00.

I got to the U early on Thursday morning to review. I was there at 7:00, so I wasn't surprised that no one else had shown up yet. But when 7:45 rolled around and no one had showed up, I was panicking. I frantically called and emailed my professor, trying to figure out what was going on. I looked around the class website, and eventually found the class syllabus. Guess what it said?

Lab exams are during the normal lab session.

Now what? My normal lab session was last Monday. If I miss the final, at best I get an I (incomplete for the class). I can't take anatomy lab until Spring 2008, which means I won't have finished all my prerequisites for Pharmacy school. That means I'll have to forfeit my place in school, go through the application process again, throw away thousands of dollars in tuition, fees, and deposits, and put my life on hold one more year.

Who was at fault here? Any way you looked at it, it was me. As they say,

Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law; but because 'tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to confute him.

—John Selden, 1689

At this point, I actually earned and deserved a failing grade in the class, guaranteeing me a one-way ticket out of Pharmacy School.

Here's what my teacher wrote back:

Lab exams are during the normal lab session.
You must attend the lab exam tonight, May 10th, at 6:00 pm.
Do not be late. This is the last lab session of the semester.
You will need to show this email to the TA to enter the exam.
good luck,

Unmerited favor. I didn't do anything to earn my way into another chance at the final. Legally, I did what it took to earn my way out of that chance. The opportunity to take the test was only the professor's to give, and at his prerogative.

I took my final Thursday night. I think I did better on this exam than any of my others this semester.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV