The Philosophy of You

Chapter 30

I stroll into philosophy, several minutes before class starts. I greet Mr.Murphy who's at the computer desk, typing away at what I presume is an email. I sit on my seat and put my headphones in because of how eerily quiet the class is. I take out my notebook and turn to the last page where I've begun to brainstorm key ideas for my article. There had been a general meeting yesterday where we were assigned our articles and photographers. I decided to write an article on the effects of technology on a family dynamic and Disney's unruly expectations of kids. Admittedly, I was excited to write on both topics, I knew the technology one was relevant and the Disney was just controversial which made it more interesting. 

Right now, I focussed on the technology one, writing down headers like "introduction", "body paragraph 1" and so on. This way, my work was more organized and far more easier to complete than just sitting in front of my laptop hitting random keys, hoping they'd form words. As I'm writing my intro, Mr.Murphy turns on his chair rolling over to the teacher's desk that is stationed right next to my desk. 

"I finished marking your unit one assignment," he says, holding up a single piece of paper with a rubric attached to it.

I look up from my notebook, eyeing the paper while asking, "Was it okay?"

He laughs, as if bemused by what he had to read, "Well, you definitely surprised me."

I furrow my brows, confused at what he is possibly referring to. The assignment was a simple one, where using theories of logic we had to learn, we had to briefly discuss any logical standpoints on a certain topic such as magic, God, the supernatural or aliens. 

"It's bad?" I say bluntly, utterly disappointed in myself.

"No, not at all. You did well and clearly made some good points but one of your theories was reversed. It was a common issue with a lot of students, maybe there was an error in the package I had given you to read."

"Right, surely if I had gotten the theory that essentially formed the foundation of my assignment, it can't be good." I cry out, as I worry about how low my mark might be.

He laughs some more which only causes for more confusion. He sighs before saying, "That's the thing! That's what should've happened but somehow even though you've got the theory wrong, your assignment and your analysis of the theory is correct."

I sit there, mouth agape as I take in what he says, "that's possible?"

"Well, now it is," he says in a cheery tone, "you know those people who are able to pull the table cloth out from underneath without the objects ever moving, that's what you did. I'm sitting here and reading it without having a single clue as to how it's possible. I'd advise that next time, you should read the packages more closely but other than that, I'm amazed at how you pulled it off. Good job!"

He hands me the assignment as I read through it, there are a few grammar correction and the first half of the second paragraph (which is where I mentioned the theory) has been circled with the words "not quite what Quinn was saying" written in purple ink above the paragraph. I skim through it several times, trying to figure out what I could've done to still get an 85% even though I butchered the theory. I give up, realizing that even my own work is of mass confusion, and I tuck it away in my binder as the bell rings. 

Students begin walking into class, some preoccupied with talking to their friends. I continue working on my article as Irene and Teagan walk in and take a seat at our table group. Teagan sits next to me while Irene is on the other side. The three of us begin discussing our topic for assignment in human development. The assignment has a group of three focus on a different psychologist and their contributions to developmental psychology. My group includes Ada and Alisha, and we chose John B. Watson who was a behaviouralist. I'll admit, it wasn't no Sigmund Freud, but Watson was like the godfather of developmental psychology.