University Shore: Student drama

As I skim through my posts of the last three years, I'm sure you're all convinced that I frequently embellish on my encounters with students. Unfortunately, I don't. I wish I did, and that in reality my students were always on time, well-organized and polite. Everything in here is very real, and I don't think I ever even wrote about the one time I had to call campus security because one particular student got a little too adamant about his/her right to an A.

Today alone (with senior portfolios due yesterday, senior theses due today, and a paper in one of my classes due this morning), I've had two students sob their way into my office, various frantic emails, and I'm sure that I have at least one panicked voice mail on my phone. And the afternoon has barely begun. While in previous years students would blame crowded computer labs or their own poor organization for their failure to turn in their work, this year, technology has swept the number one spot. I've heard about crashed hard drives, stolen flash drives, broken laptops, and faulty midnight tornado drills that left students out in their hallways until four in the morning. Students have pleaded, begged, cried until their noses were red, done the whole shaky-breath-thing and on the whole made me feel like handing out chocolate and tissues. As most of these students are the real deal; hard-working, honest, and genuinely contrite, I'd like to think I've been very lenient. People have received extensions, been consoled, or sent to the chair for a final decision, while I have yet to tell anyone "no". So far, so good.

But each year, there are the stories that would make me laugh if they weren't so infuriating. Allow me to share one such email with you:

"About the paper that's due today. I was involved in a car accident a week ago and im in trying to get my car situation handled in (a town three hours away). I will be back in town by my research methods class so if that's fine can I turn it in then"

Note the various problems with this particular student's email (and I'm not talking about the lack of punctuation). There was a car accident, and yes, those are bad, and would usually serve as a more than acceptable excuse to a late paper. However, in this case, the car accident took place a week ago. The student apparently elected to have his car repaired in the town where the accident took place, and not only that, but s/he elected to pick up said car on the morning my paper was due.
Coincidence?
I think not.

So I told the lovely student that this was not fine, and I would not accept his/her paper. So sad, too bad. I'm anxiously awaiting the reply, which I'm sure is imminent.

What's worse? The end of the semester is only four weeks ago, and you know that means the drama has only just begun. I will keep you posted.