Outside the Beltway

Tommy Lee Postmortem

Leopold Stotch · Tuesday, September 13, 2005 · 1 comment

I just watched the final episode of Tommy Lee Goes to College and two things struck me: in the end he didn’t do all that well (one B, a C+ and an F), but in his meetings with his professors as well as with UNL’s chancellor, he always was respectful and deferential in addressing them as sir or professor. Second, and more importantly, he genuinely recognized that he failed (or did less than stellar) — he didn’t pass the buck or claim that anything was unfair.

If my mediocre students were as honest and self-reflective, the grading aspect of my job would be much more pleasant.

Oh, and you would have failed chemistry too if Natalie Riedmann was your “tutor.”