“After the first lecture, I can’t even recall seeing Chris in my classroom. For him to help his classmates in such a major way by utterly bombing his final exceeded all my expectations of him from when he first stood up in the back row and left 15 minutes into my introduction to the syllabus.”
In a heroic display of school spirit and empathy, Christopher Wilson, SEAS ’24, surprised his classmates with a charitable act that most students can only dream of achieving: scoring a three percent final exam score and a failing grade in COMS 3203: Discrete Mathematics.
In his 3rd year at Columbia, Wilson chose not to prioritize his studies, confident that his natural talent in the field of mathematics would lead him to a satisfactory C-. In combination with his decision to not turn in any of the assigned problem sets, Wilson ended his academic semester with a final grade of an F. Wilson’s final grade, in tandem with his final exam score, generously aided his classmates in making sure that their own tests and grades curved well into the B+ range.
For his classmates and his professor, this display of generosity came as a surprise. None can recall any sign that Wilson was planning for such a gift, considering his disinterest in the weekly lectures and general lack of attendance. More than anyone else, his professor was especially caught off guard.
“After the first lecture, I can’t even recall seeing Chris in my classroom. For him to help his classmates in such a major way by utterly bombing his final exceeded all my expectations of him from when he first stood up in the back row and left fifteen minutes into my introduction to the syllabus.”
Wilson, in a grand showing of humility, declined to comment, citing a need to “make sure my parents don’t hear a f*cking peep about this.”
With his courageous choice to avoid all opportunities to study, and his stalwart refusal to take any credit for his good deed, it seems we can all learn from Wilson’s stoic generosity.
