Academic Insulation Creating an Epidemic of Dissolution

After finishing a final exam at my former institution, I was having a drink with some students and lamenting about exams and school in general. I am a law student and in law school, all grades are based on one exam. Furthermore that exam is graded on a forced curve, meaning that grades are a zero sum game. If you receive an A, someone else did not; any advantage in such an environment is crucial and perhaps determinative of grades and class rankings. Thus there is a lot of stress going in and there is a lot of reflection post exams. It's best to think of such things while having a beer and surrounded by peers.

One of my classmates in particular started talking about how he was given extra time for the exam because of his disability. I will refrain from further details, but this disability prevented him from focusing. If his inability to focus prevented him from taking one exam in the allotted time, what would he say to employers when asked to file a motion at the last minute. Moreover, because of his lack of ability to focus, he also needed his own room. I laughed at the notion that a junior associate would be given his own, private office on the same grounds. Only in academia do we coddle such individuals. Note that this was after I had been diagnosed with leukemia the first time; I never asked for special treatment for my cancer.

This past year, the day before finals began, I was hospitalized with a recurrence of leukemia. I did not ask to be shielded from exams nor did I ask to be given preferential treatment. Instead, I took my finals, from my hospital bed, while undergoing chemotherapy and while experiencing adverse side effects. Moreover, these are not short exams that require you to pick the right answer. One of these was a twelve-hour essay exam whereby I lost five hours for spiking a neutropenic fever and needing immediate treatment. Although I passed all my finals, I do think that I went too far in this extreme. I probably should have asked for additional time.

Today's students are coddled to such an extreme that we have safety zones whereby students are somehow insulated from the outside world (as if academia isn't insulation enough). I have said this before, and I will say it again: there is no safety zone in life. If students cannot face criticism or an insensitive remark, then how will they face life. I pray to God that nobody gets cancer, but it will happen--or the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or some other tragedy. There is no safety zone from death or disease (and taxes--another tragedy).

Complaining of an inability to focus and take exams might work in school, but it won't work at the office. I'd rather deal with hardship now and learn to adapt while the ramifications are less severe. Getting a B over an A, but learning to focus is better than getting fired and not having a second chance. In the long run, we are doing a great disservice to the future generation by indulging their every emotional need.