Things That End Early

This is a completely foreign concept to most high school students but and exciting new reality in college: things that end early.

You have no idea how exciting it is when, 14 minutes before the end of class, a teacher looks at the class and says "Well, that's all for today!  See you on Monday".  The first time this happened to me, I didn't know what to do.  I wondered if we were allowed to leave or if this was all some kind of sick, twisted, Kyle Matthews-style mind game that I was about to lose.  It's not.

Some professors will simply excuse class early when they get through everything that was planned.  Some professors will lose the thread of what they were saying and visibly give up.  Still others will listen to That Kid ask a question, stare blankly at the class, and then tell everyone to get out so that they can mourn the sorry state of American youth that think "So, when will we get to the 'sex organs' part of Biology?" is a pertinent and appropriate question to ask.

Regardless of why you are being released early, it is a wonderful surprise.  You then have time to spend pretending to do homework outside, or taking an extra-long lunch, or walking to the very sketchy fast-food place that doesn't appear to have a name a block from campus.

The only time you can count on being let out early is exam periods.  I have yet to meet a single professor who forces you to stay for the entire exam period.  If you are the kind of person who finishes tests early, you will finally discover the reason that you have honed your speed-testing skillz.  If only CSAPS or TCAPS or whatever they are called were like that.

Basically, the moral of the story is two-fold:
- Getting out of class is awesome and makes you feel like someone might actually trust you to not stumble blindly into traffic if you are released 16 seconds before the bell.
- It is possible to make certain professors let the class out early (repeat after me: "Can we just watch the movie instead of bothering with cliffs notes?  Or is that frowned upon?")       (Note: Sometimes, the professor will release ONLY you from class when you do this.  Let me be clear: that is not a good thing.  You will probably fail that course because now that professor hates you.  Choose your targets wisely.)