When did cutting corners pay off for you?

[CPA]

I copied a friend's English paper practically word for word and got a 97 on it......he got an 83 lol.

I gave a "How-to" speech in my Speech class on how to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and got an A. I didn't prepare at all.

LOL, I did a meatball recipe using the recipe of the pizza/italian joint I worked at. Got and A.

 

[purbeast0]

my final semester in college i had to take some stupid ass economics class.

we had 4 homework assignments a semester and 2 exams.

the 4 days homework was due i went to class, turned my paper in the box in front of class, then left.

i went to class the other 2 exam days for the exam obviously.

i ended up with a C in the class, and graduated, and am doing good for myself now. so i think cutting corners on that class paid off just fine.

 

[slag]

College. I took a theories of persuasion class and showed up 4 times all semester. I ended up with a C in the class somehow. I think it was because the professor was also my advisor and he knew I worked full time to pay my way through school and felt sorry for me.

 

[Dirigible]

I was a college TA. I hated grading the damn homework. One night I was busy with my own work until about 3am but still had an entire class of homework to grade in solid mechanics. Partly from laziness and partly from being fuzzy headed at that point I thought everyone did just fine and gave them all full credit.

The professor was angry of course and chewed me out. But my "punishment" was to no longer grade homework. Instead I got put in charge of all the labs. That was super fun, hanging out with the students and messing with all the lab equipment. Figured out how to network the lab computers and play Doom on them (that dates me) and had fun LANning after lab with some of the students.

Did such a good job with the lab stuff that my professor tried to talk me into staying on as a Ph.D student and gave me a great letter of recommendation when I declined.

Win!

 

[novasatori]

To this day he is slightly miffed when I bring it up

Similar to your story. In AP Bio our teacher was incredibly bad, and my friend was a super A+ earner and worked his ass off. The quiz was on cellular stuff with ATP ADP etc on it, and I answered ATP/ADP for all the choices in a somewhat random fashion and I managed to score higher than him.

To this day bringing up ATP/ADP makes him furious.

 

[AstroManLuca]

OP, I did almost the exact same thing with Frankenstein. From the first day we got the book, I actually tried to read it several times, but it was so boring I couldn't stay awake long enough to read the first page.

The day before we were going to have a major class discussion covering the ENTIRE book, I bought the Cliff notes and read them cover to cover. About 70 pages. I participated in the discussion several times and it totally sounded like I had read the book. In fact I probably knew more about it than most of my classmates because I didn't have to slog through the whole thing.

To this day I cannot stand "classic" literature.

 

[1sikbITCH]

While I was at work I was thinking about cutting corners (I mostly mow lawns this summer. summer job for noobs TridenT....) and times where it has paid off. The examples I came up with are mostly pretty innocent.

So while you are mowing lawns for a living, you somehow realize that cutting corners in school has paid off

I was in trouble most of my early adult life, and those troubles indirectly led me to a career as a paralegal making ok money (not ATOT money of course). Most people in my position end up dead or in prison, or even if they get clean they have a life of labor and janitor jobs. I definitely lucked out.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

I'm amused at a couple differences.
In education, there are TONS of studies of the differences between children and adults. For children, they're generally motivated extrinsically. Things like grades, or $10 for an "A" on the repord card, or even a sticker on the paper are things that motivate children.

Adults - extrinsic motivators are still important, but they're much more motivated intrinsically. They tend to care more about what they're learning and how they can apply it to what they do.

Thus, a couple of posters here have indicated that behaviorally, they're still just little children.
Maybe it's time that Mommy or Daddy turned of your video games.

C-

I expected better DrPizza.

 

[hanoverphist]

i used a component OIT instead of a PV+ to save dev time and hardware costs. the downside is less capabilities of the unit, but the cost savings was huge.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

OP, I did almost the exact same thing with Frankenstein. From the first day we got the book, I actually tried to read it several times, but it was so boring I couldn't stay awake long enough to read the first page.

The day before we were going to have a major class discussion covering the ENTIRE book, I bought the Cliff notes and read them cover to cover. About 70 pages. I participated in the discussion several times and it totally sounded like I had read the book. In fact I probably knew more about it than most of my classmates because I didn't have to slog through the whole thing.

To this day I cannot stand "classic" literature.

Classic literature isn't "classic" because some snobby, bifocal wearing, elitist pouf decided it was. It's classic because the story, characters and, writing style have withstood the test of time. Knowing something about the time, culture and, society depicted can help a lot. Not every classic is for everyone. You might try those with a more adventurous slant if cerebral pursuits aren't your thing. Giving up on classics is like giving up on reading because you read one boring book. Seriously, give yourself an education. it's a gift that no one can take away.

 

[Ichinisan]

Sorry it is a bit long, but the story always makes me smile in amazement that it worked out so well.

Years ago when I was a cook, on one friday night.

My best friend and I were both cooks and were both working a night together which was supposed to be very busy due to some event going on in the park. I was in an extremely bad mood and was pretty fed up with the job too. So before the night kicked off, I proclaimed to my buddy that I wasn't cooking anything tonight and was going to deep-fry everything instead (he was platting[?] for me so I was responsible for all the cooking just about). He laughed and didn't take me seriously and I started to drink (I always kept a 12 pack in the line cooler). This is an Italian restaurant, so we start getting orders, things like chicken marsala/fish/etc normal Italian dishes you'd see in a decent place. My buddy looks over at me and his mouth is just hanging open. I'm deep frying the chicken/fish/whatever and just making the sauces in the pans then tossing the meat into them.

He can't believe it and it is working out well, we are supremely[?] busy but because of my short cut we are flowing along easy as can be (good thing too cause I was drinking a fair bit). We are getting complaints[compliments?] coming back from the servers how everyone is really enjoying their food (no shit who doesn't love deep-fried?) so all is going well. One of the owners and the chef of the place comes back to see how we are doing and it was perfect timing, cause I just got a new order so started the sauce as I was tenderizing the meat and the boss was all happy and said "good job" and left the kitchen, again my friend is in amazement cause if he would have looked at the deep-fryer her would have seen some chicken in there for another order.

So the night is going much better then I expected and my buddy is in awe at how well it is working out with all the complements. Then we get a burger order. He laughs at me and says it looks like you'll be cooking after all. I still remember this moment clear as day, I turn back to him and just look him straight in the eye and say, I don't think so and grab a patty from the cooler and put it in the fryer. Took the burger out and used 2 of these cardboard like things we put things we deep fry in to soak up the oil, i put the burger between them and squeezed it down to get rid of the excess oil and to flatten it out a lil because it became kinda bloated looking. Sent it out and sure enough, the person loved it the server said lol.

At the end of the night we did a lot of covers and we had a thing where if we did over 250 I think it was, each cook got a $50 bonus, so we got the bonus, didn't work hard at all and got more compliments then we ever had before in a single night. That night is forever known as Deep Fry Friday.

Good story. :thumbsup:

 

[Ichinisan]

a truck ran off the road, somehow i did a Matrix maneuver and walked away unscathed even though i should'nt have. everyone thought for sure i got hit.
i just told everyone i'm that badass the look on everyones faces was quite amusing.

Reminds me of one time (SEVERAL years ago) I was at Walmart and some strangers asked me about wireless networking equipment. They lucked-out by asking the right person, because I knew exactly what caused their confusion and how to solve their problem. While I was talking enthusiastically, I heard a sound from above. I saw their eyes dart up above my head. Involuntarily, my arm shot up and snagged a falling product that would have hit me in the head. My gaze never budged and I never stopped talking. All three of them were wide-eyed and their mouths were hanging open. They thought I was some kind of ninja. :ninja:

I believe this happened when 802.11g was still a draft standard.

 

[shortylickens]

Never.
Not in public school when it was all a joke and didnt matter anyway. Not in Navy schools when there were real standards. Not in my career, not in personal life. Not even in my hobbies and stuff.

 

[AlienCraft]

Back in '83 or so, I drove Highway 50 instead of Interstate 80, Salt Lake City to Oakland.
Saved 350 miles, more or less.