Forgot to Study? Noooo Problem.

In the annals of Modern Academic Horror, there is nothing so brutal, so terrifying, so godforsakenly suck-tastic, as the Forgotten Quiz. And unless you are very, very lucky—or an obnoxious overachiever who completes assignments three weeks early—you will, before you graduate high school, have the unfortunate privilege of experiencing the Forgotten Quiz firsthand. It starts like this:

- You go home for the day, armed with all the tools you need to complete that evening's assignments.
- Between bites of macaroni and cheese, you review your notes and discover, joyfully, that one of your teachers has forgotten to assign homework.
- Delighted by the unexpected free time, you complete your homework at warp speed and spend the rest of the evening watching cat videos on YouTube. Life is good.
- Until the next day, that is—when your best friend turns to you moments before you walk into the aforementioned teacher's classroom and says, “Man, I was up until two o'clock cramming for this quiz!”

Quiz?
QUIZ?!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!

But while there are few things worse than the stomach-churning realization that a) there is a quiz, and b) you are completely unprepared for it, there are also reasons why the Forgotten Quiz is an important—even exciting—part of every student's high school career. Like:

1) Random acts of ad-libbing. With only seconds standing between them and the loathsome quiz, some students will find themselves suddenly capable of performing acts that get them out of taking the test. Imagine the excitement of discovering that you've got an incredible, heretofore unknown talent for vomiting on command, or fainting, or charming the teacher into rescheduling the test for another day. That's gonna come in handy!

2) Mid-quiz fun-fest. After fifteen minutes of sweating your way through a question you haven't a clue how to answer, your brain's self-preservation mechanism will kick in. “Well, we're screwed,” it says, “so let's have some FUN!” Faced with no choice but to get creative, unprepared quiz-takers can sometimes rack up a point or two of partial credit for answering questions incorrectly, but with style. And while your less-than-stellar grade on this quiz won't really matter in the long run, the laugh you give your teacher when you solve for x because “Batman says so”? That's money in the bank.

3) Surprising yourself. Some kids will sit down to take a Forgotten Quiz, picking up their pencils with glum resignation, only to find that they actually know most or all of the material. Whoa! When did that happen?

Getting unexpectedly sent into the academic trenches this one time won't ruin your GPA or your chances at getting into college, but it can be an eye-opening experience —whether it gives you a surprise boost of confidence, or illuminates the areas you need to study up on.

You know, for next time.

Have you ever coped with a Forgotten Quiz? How'd it go?

Related post: Three Reasons to Love—OK, Like—the SAT