Sarawat's Story

Part XVIII: The Karaoke Confessionals

"Horrible!"

Professor Kongkaeo's voice thundered through the classroom Thursday afternoon, slicing through my daydream.

Our Comparative Politics class had been uneventful for the most part. Professor Kongkaeo had lectured and had assigned the class a group exercise afterward. While we did the classwork, Professor Kongkaeo graded the exam we had taken the day before. My group finished our assignment first, and as we waited for the rest of the class to submit their work, I had begun daydreaming. Tine and I were scheduled to take our pictures and record our video for Campus Open House as soon as class was over. We would be meeting the photographer in the Student Union Building at four o'clock.

But Professor Kongkaeo's outburst had shattered the imaginary pictures I saw in my head.

"Terrible!" he roared. He clenched our exams in his right hand and shook them. "Not one grade from the exam was acceptable!" When a daring classmate suggested that we had all failed because the exam was a little too hard, Professor Kongkaeo exploded in a long tirade about the class's lackluster performance.

I looked down at my phone. It was 3:45 PM.

Professor Kongkaeo crossed his arms on his chest. "To make up for these abysmal scores," he announced, "I am giving the class a writing assignment, and it must be turned in before you leave today."

Sighs and groans rose from my classmates. My stomach twisted in a knot, but I raised my hand.

"Excuse me, professor," I said as I clasped my hands together and bowed my head respectfully, "I want to do the written assignment, but I am supposed to be somewhere on campus in fifteen minutes. It's important, sir."

Professor Kongkaeo glared at me. "Is it a doctor's appointment, Mr. Guntithanon?" he asked, an annoyed growl as he said my name.

"Uh, no, sir," I replied.

"Is it an emergency?"

I shook my head. "No, sir, it's not an emergency."

"Mr. Guntithanon," he grumbled, "unless you are currently bleeding or suffering from some internal medical emergency, I suggest you do this assignment." He turned and began writing on the dry erase board, adding, "I suggest everyone stay for this assignment unless they want to fail my class for the semester."

I slumped in my chair. While Professor Kongkaeo explained our writing assignment to the class, I ignored him to text Tine. Gonna be late! Stupid late assignment. I'm sorry!! Please please don't be mad!! I'll be there!!

How late will you be? Tine asked.

"Mr. Guntithanon!" Professor Kongkaeo snapped, startling me enough that I dropped my phone on the desk. "I said to put your phone away."

I tossed my phone into my backpack and slid my bag under the desk. "Sorry, sir," I mumbled as I bowed my head respectfully.

Professor Kongkaeo handed out the small booklets we used for writing assignments, and I read the questions he had written on the board. Instantly I knew the essay would take more than just a few minutes; at minimum, it would require half an hour of writing to answer the essay questions fully. When Professor Kongkaeo dropped my booklet on my desk, I gritted my teeth to stifle my rage.

I hurriedly got to work, zeroing in on the assignment in front of me. I needed to keep my eyes on the paper and away from the clock on the wall. My throat started to ache from dryness, and I bounced my leg under the desk. Time seemed to crawl inside the classroom, but estimating how much time had passed only made me feel worse. As I hastily finished and submitted my work to Professor Kongkaeo, I made the mistake of looking at the clock. It was 5:04 PM.