I once had a special gig in school where I got paid to write up my notes for Intro to Microbiology. There were two outfits in town that paid students for notes and one said, “Well, we don’t normally hire the same note-taker as the other place because it’s good for students to have a variety to choose from, but no one else stepped up so the gig is yours if you want it.”
I was broke at the time and working two other jobs but I appreciated the side hustle. It happened to be the worst semester of my entire life. I had just moved to the area and everything was so much more expensive. I was the most sleep-deprived I'd ever been (well maybe except for the time I was a counselor at a sleepaway camp, which should really be called “awake-away camp," but I digress.)
One night I was up until the wee hours typing up my notes and I fell asleep right in the middle of typing.
One night I was up until the wee hours typing up my notes and I fell asleep right in the middle of typing.
Sitting up.
My head didn't loll, my fingers didn't fall away from the keys, my shoulders and arms didn't drop. I just kept typing. I fell asleep typing, woke up typing, and continued to type until I was done. I never realized I had fallen asleep. I never re-read the notes so I never saw the evidence that I was out cold for a few straight minutes.
The next day, I handed my notes in, got paid and went on my merry way.
Months pass.
The night before the final, I pulled out my notes to study and saw the following:
artificial protoplanst. Fusion and electro poradion and gun & micro injection. Profus kindks memeebrane stick and DNA transfer, elec open pores in cell sideface, gene gun -- coat projectile w/DNA & shot into cell. & hiccp injection pucure cell walls.
Know the basis of how genes are transferred (figure 9.16, pg. 261 for example).
I typed this?
How did I not realize I'd fallen asleep? What was I trying to say??
2am and I just discovered (along with 299 other poor slobs from class) that an entire concept was useless!
I still have no idea what this was about. But I owe a few hundred students a beer!
How did I not realize I'd fallen asleep? What was I trying to say??
2am and I just discovered (along with 299 other poor slobs from class) that an entire concept was useless!
I still have no idea what this was about. But I owe a few hundred students a beer!
