Scholarship

Since my freshmen year of college, I have had a scholarship to BYU.

Most of the time it covers tuition, but sometimes it covers my books and a large part of my rent for that semester.
With the academic prestige and wonderful atmosphere that BYU offers, receiving a scholarship for the last four years of my education has been more than kind of the admission and scholarship committee.

Now, I don't have perfect grades. I doubt I will be graduating with Summa Cum Laude or even Magna Cum Laude for that matter, so sometimes I feel undeserving of all this financial support.

There are people in my class that are WAY smarter and WAY more hard-working than I and probably in a much more deserving spot to receive that much money for doing what they already do.

Fortunately it is only sometimes that I feel like my check should have been addressed to someone else.

Today is not one of those days. While the entire BYU student population is busy studying for finals, I am no exception. I have spent most of this morning preparing for a scheduled exam on Monday.

This class has started a google doc so that the entire class may submit information and hopefully help each other out with finals. Being an International Relations major, I take a hefty amount of economic classes. In these econ classes, we learn about free riders. A free rider is someone who consumes a resource without paying or contributing to it.

A google doc can be a perfect arena for free riders. Information is provided without any compensation, just the assumption that everyone that has access to the google doc has integrity and an honorable character.

With that being said, I didn't want to a free rider. So I filled out the study guide as much as I could and then logged onto the google doc hoping to contribute while I get some answers of my own.

Sounds simple right?

When I logged on, a large part of the first page was already completed. I read through it, adding little bits of information as I went and on the first question that was left empty, I filled in as much as I personally had answered and continued on.

Three questions into an annoying little orange block popped up right below my typing.

"Why aren't you with us reviewing right now?!"

I was slightly hesitant and unsure that this was directed to me seeing as how there were 7 other users viewing the document. So I chose to ignore it and continued on with my work.

The  next question, the orange user decided to add annoying, irrelevant information below my sentences.

"Potatoes are the best!"
"Professor So-and-so is amazing! He is the best!" 
"Matt Damon."

Once again, I chose to ignore it. Maybe the stress of finals had gotten to them. I would just go and delete those out when I needed the copy of the document anyways.

On to the next question.


"YOU! YOU, PINKIE, writing RIGHT NOW!  Why aren't you studying for us?" 

I kept typing my answer.

"STOP IT. STOP WRITING AND COME TO THE CLASSROOM RIGHT NOW! We are discussing stuff right now." 

My patience is about the size of the smallest Who in Whoville found on that clover that Horton hears. So when you provoke me when I am trying to contribute during finals week...

This happens:

"If the discussion in the classroom regarding "stuff" is regarding how to disrupt the public google document, then I'd rather not."

Mr. Orange block did not like that response.

"WHAT? You mean that we have practically filled in all...."

And it was deleted. Someone went in and took out the conversation.

That was when I didn't feel so bad for having a scholarship. Because as many smart people there are on BYU, there are some incredibly stupid ones too.