Mandela Effect: Student Never Remembers Learning This in Class

Over the past few years, a phenomenon has permeated the internet: the “Mandela Effect,” which is the misremembering of certain facts or events. The theory gets its name from the widespread misunderstanding that Nelson Mandela died in jail in the ‘80s, when in reality, he died of natural causes in 2013. There are many examples of the Mandela Effect, but the most prominent instance of it is occurring right now at Penn, as students studying for midterms believe that there is “no way” they learned this material in class.

Lizzie Hans (C ’19) insists that her professor, Dr. Shultz, included test questions on the last midterm that he had never even mentioned in lecture. “In fact, he told us the opposite answer,” Lizzie complained. As students took the midterm, not a single one could remember this stuff either. “After the test, a number of students came to my office hours to complain,” said Dr. Shultz, “but then I showed them the lecture slide with the literal, word-for-word answer on it.” Another student, Thomas Holter (C ’20) still doesn't buy it. “I think Dr. Shultz went back and changed the lecture slides after the test,” he told us.

So how and why are all of these students mistaken? Either we're living in an alternate universe or students just aren't studying hard enough. After trying for some time, Dr. Shultz gave up on trying to convince his students that the material was right in front of them the whole time. "It doesn't matter that much if they're upset. The drop deadline has passed anyway."