Biology Professor Cancels Midterm After Forgetting to Include Motivational Calvin and Hobbes Cartoon

Professor Schumann’s Biology 101 students were only five minutes into their first midterm when disaster struck.

Schumann watched as students finished the first page of the test and flipped open the second page. Not a single student chuckled—not even a wry smile. Schumann had forgotten to include his sixth favorite Calvin and Hobbes comic strip above question 8. Naturally, Schumann stopped the entire exam to make an announcement.

“Guys! I am so sorry,” Schumann professed. “I made a grave error on page two. Right above question 8, there should be a black and white cartoon featuring two characters you know basically no backstory about. The comic was tangentially related to the material and was just long enough that after reading it you’d surely lose whatever groove you were getting into. In other words, it was... perfect.”

Schumann’s students mostly ignored his impassioned speech and plowed on once they realized it had nothing to do with the material. Thirty minutes later, Schumann dismissed the class and rescheduled the exam for the following week—just enough time to learn how to use copy/paste to include the cartoon.

While some of Schumann’s students were angered by the scheduling change, most agreed with the decision.

“You know, I really didn’t think it’d have an effect on me, but I’ve gotta say, my energy was zapped once I saw that blank space above question 8. I really needed that boost from my guys Calvin and Hobbes,” said Rebecca Steingold (C ‘20).

Professor Schumann was relieved that his decision was met with open arms. “For a moment, I thought it was possible that 18 year-olds just don’t find Calvin and Hobbes funny, but luckily that’s not the case,” said Schumann.