Shakespearean - JayTim - Camp NaNoWriMo - July 2017

Chapter 2 - Gullible

By the time Jason got back to his dorm, changed his shirt and his jeans, which had been dampened by contact with his wet shirt, and made it to class, he was a good 30 minutes late. He slipped in through the side door just as Professor Kent was finishing up going over the syllabus. He looked up at Jason and nodded his acknowledgement, but he didn't pause as he went on to describe how everything was going to work in the class and what he hoped everyone would get out of it.

Jason sat in the back row and paid close attention to everything being said. He didn't actually care much about the information being given, but he was hoping to make up for his tardiness. There were only a couple dozen people in the class, which Jason assumed was because it was supposed to be a third year level class, not a freshman class. Jason was on the verge of zoning out when Professor Kent said, "Now, I know going over the syllabus is the most boring thing on earth, so most of you probably didn't pay much attention." A few of the kids a couple rows up looked sheepish, but Kent had everyone's attention now. "So, for those of you who weren't interested in anything else, listen to this part. If the lot of you only remember one thing from today's class remember what I'm about to tell you."

Jason subconsciously leaned forward in his seat. He vaguely heard a random student tapping his foot, and another one sneezed. Other than that there was utter silence in the room as Professor Kent paused, presumably for dramatic affect. He smirked, as though he knew and expected what his words would do to the class.

"Every lesson I will teach you something about journalism. I know, I know, that seems rather obvious since you are in a journalism class. But instead of teaching you a bunch of jargon or definitions or rules or whatever, I'm going to give you one lesson, just one, in easily understood words. I'll keep this lesson short and sweet, and more often than not, it will probably be very applicable to life in general in addition to journalism." Professor Kent finished his statement and walked to his desk. He grabbed a stack of papers and handed them to a student in the front row, giving him instructions to take one and pass it down. "This is your assignment for the week. Each paper has a topic. You are all to research the topic and compile as much information as you can in an essay-style paper in the allotted space on your sheet. You are not to write on any other paper, you may not write on the back, and you may not write in the margins. Your writing must be legible, so don't make it too small."

Everybody took their paper and read their prompt. Jason raised an eyebrow when he saw his topic: 'Human Trafficking.' Jason swallowed and wondered what it would take to get someone to switch with him. Jason didn't have a problem with the topic itself, but it brought a familiar bad taste to the back of his tongue.

"I know some of you are tempted to switch your topic. While I can't track whether or not you do, I would encourage you not to." Jason internally groaned at Professor Kent's words. "I gave out important topics, some of which aren't very well known. While they might be difficult to find information on, or you might not be interested, I would encourage you to research them anyway. If it doesn't interest you, you might change your mind when you have more info." One of the students snorted at that, and the corner of Professor Kent's mouth quirked in a barely-hidden smile as he continued. "Regardless of whether or not you like it, I know for a fact that each of these topics will grow you as a writer, a researcher, a journalist, and maybe even as a human being. Just give them a shot."

Half the class groaned while the other half mostly nodded or shrugged. Jason sighed in resignation and slipped his paper into a binder so it wouldn't get wrinkled up. A lot of students started packing up when everyone noticed that the class was supposed to be over three minutes before. As people started standing up and moving towards the door, Professor Kent spoke again. "Oh, and one last thing." Everyone paused in what they were doing and looked his way. "The word 'gullible' is written on the ceiling."