u/Fathoms_Deep_1

Good News! I had a chat with my professor, and when she said the 0 was for attention, they meant that it literally was there as a way to give me a little scare and set up a meeting. We had a good discussion about it, and she emphasized that it was a real paper, but the misspelling was a red flag for possible AI use, so she wanted to have a chat with me. Everything is resolved, and she's grading the paper normally. I also found out she is dropping two of the discussions that I missed (which is course policy, but the syllabus had me confused), so I'm no longer worried about graduating.

Little heart attack, and probably could've been an email, but I'm glad we could sit down and have a chat about it, and all is resolved.

So this is supposed to be my last semester, and it’s been a bit of a pain. Last semester my life got flipped upside down by getting diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, Clincial Depression and other issues. For my last semester I decided to take all online classes so that I can get more hours at work, and it’s been a big problem. Luckily I’ve mostly been able to get all my classes under control.

One class that’s routinely been an issues is my last history course. I missed a major assignment early on during a particularly bad depressive episode, it I’ve been on track since, and I’m allowed to rewrite the paper as this classes final exam (there’s no traditional final, it’s a weird class). The week after spring break, I had major assignments, papers and projects due in all of my classes, including a paper in this one. To make things better, I had work all week and then my mom came down for a suprise visit. I was able to get the paper done and turn it in before the deadline, but I fucked up.

It was a book report and I spelled the authors last name as “Bailey” instead of Benton in footnotes and in the essay, but used the correct name in the bibliography. The teacher gave me a 0 on the paper for this, citing “lack of effort or attention”. There’s no way I pass the class with this grade. It’s been a pain to get my grade since she blocks grade calculations on canvas. She’s also been a bit difficult to contact and hasn’t responded to a previous email about setting up a meeting to discuss what I need to do to pass, although she has said she’s going through major health issues.

I’m honestly scared and don’t know what to do. I could give less of a shit about walking at graduation or graduating on time, but my family has spent thousands to plan a trip to come down here in May to see me graduate. On top of that, I have a job I got hired to at Charles Schwab after I graduate, and I have no clue what to say to them.

Honestly I feel like such a failure. I don’t know what to do. My friends have given me advice on disputing the grade, but I don’t know what to say to the professor. Maybe I can reach out to my advisor and advocate and ask about walking a semester early and finishing my last class in the summer? I’m noneslrg at a loss right now and have no idea what to do.