It's all the hard work that came before...all the preparation he did to get into college. Only to drop the ball in the final inning!!...Along with the 2 F's, he's maintaining a 92% in calculus. Defies logic.
"Phoning it in." Obviously, calculus isn't difficult for him. The other classes probably aren't difficult either but are "more" work than calculus is. So he punts, figuring that a couple of low grades "won't make a difference now."
'Twas ever thus.
And next year, about the time he (metaphorically) finds himself sitting in my office hours, trying manfully not to whine while whining about his grade, he will be the proverbial deer-in-the-headlights "But-but-but I was an 'A' student in high school!"
Yes, my friend, I'm sure you were. And so was everybody else in this class. And of all the "A" students, you're an average one -- so I had no choice but to give you a "C."
Best when nipped in the bud by Mom -- but the nipping; ah, there's the rub.
Fortunately, he's got these totally jacked-up professors who totally assign way too much reading, like they totally think you have, like, no other classes or something, and then they have, like, these totally harsh grading standards like you're supposed to be some kind of genius or something and who even get, like, the totally meanest TA's who don't even, like, give extensions, to look forward to.
"But-but-but I was an 'A' student in high school!"
