Revolutions in Time

At around midnight last night, I was studying for my last final before leaving for break. The class, called Revolutions in Time, is a CORE 104 class, which is part of the Thematic Option program (the honors alternative to general ed requirements) at USC, had us actively engaging in texts and discussing what it means for something to be "revolutionary," and what constitutes a revolution. We had been discussing texts from Zola to Paine to Marx to Beauvoir and beyond, and it had been especially interesting to see the Occupy Movement unfold and discuss its implications within today's society as it relates to the class. Though heavy in philosophical ideas and complicated concepts, it forced us to think critically about something we'd learned about in history books and read about in the news.

At about 1am, I received a text from one of my classmates, telling me that something was going on. I checked my email and found that, in true revolutionary fashion, my fellow classmates had suggested we write "This is a Revolution" on the top of our exams and walk out. And from there, it spiraled. What started as an act of frustration, stress, and rebellion against exams turned into a three-page manifesto, written by eighteen of my fellow classmates (myself included), calling for change in our system of education that tries to measure a person's intelligence and knowledge and put a numerical value on it. It wasn't until 4am that the colored cursors in the Google Doc ceased to dance across the screen; most of the writing and editing was complete. Throughout the night, however, changes were made, tweaks were added, and what you see above is the completed project.

Fast-forward to shortly before the scheduled exam time. A lot of us were nervous about how our professor would respond. She's probably one of the nicest professors I've ever had, and I know that I was worried that she'd feel slighted by our actions or that she'd see it as a desperate attempt to get out of taking a final. The air was charged with energy and excitement, and when she entered the classroom, one by one, my classmates stood and read a paragraph of the manifesto.

So how does this story end? Our professor decided to give us all As on the final. But her hard work in putting it together was not for naught; we sat in a circle and collectively went through the final, coming up with the answers together, each question acting as a starting point for a discussion on the texts and concepts we had been learning about throughout the semester. All in all, I'd say that it was the BEST way to end the semester, and I know this won't be something I'll forget anytime soon.