May 14, 2025: The Final Call

I couldn’t believe she called.

I had almost finished packing the car, only an hour from driving home for summer. Freedom.

Music jammed from our dorm room. My roommates and I were cracking jokes, celebrating how we had survived freshman year.

Then the phone rang.

“Hi, Brian?”

“Yes?”

“This is your organic chemistry professor. I just wanted to call and say… you made a 90 on your final.”

“Awesome! Thanks for telling me.”

A pause.

“No, no. A 90 out of 200,” she said.

Heart drop. “Oh.”

“You’ve done well all semester, so I’m confused what happened.”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Tell you what, come to my office this afternoon for an oral exam. If you do a good job, I’ll adjust your score.”

Gulp. “Okay. Thanks.”

Click.

And that fast, summer slammed to a halt.

I grabbed my notes and textbook. No more partying. No more laughs. Just last-minute cramming in an upstairs study room while everyone else hauled out their laundry baskets and mini fridges.

Two hours later, I sat across from her desk and answered hydrocarbon questions. She eventually gave a quiet nod and said she would make the grade change.

To this day, I have no idea what went wrong on that exam. Maybe I blanked. Maybe my head was already halfway to vacation. But I’m thankful an instructor cared enough to help me, even though the timing stunk.

So today, Jake and Sam walked through the door from JMU, all duffel bags and smiles. I hugged them both and said, “Welcome home. Let this sink in — the first hour of summer break!”

And deep in the recesses of my brain... I thought of organic chemistry.