It was 8:50am Tuesday morning. The sky was covered with clouds, and it was drizzling as I walked across the UW campus. Another normal day in Seattle you might think. But no, this was my first day as a TA for CSE 326, data structures, or at least so I thought.
The previous couple of days had been a flurry of activities. I had met with the professor for the course and we had discussed the course contents and what my duties were to be. I had been given computer account sheets to hand out, as well as a simple handout on how to use UNIX, which I had been told was new to the students. Finding the handout lacking, I had spent many hours fighting with LaTeX in order to produce a couple of handouts of my own (my first encounter with LaTeX is a story of its own). After having dutifully gone to the lecture and been introduced to the class, I had spent most of yesterday preparing for the upcoming quiz section. I was determined to do a good job.
As I approached Johnson Hall, my heart started beating faster and my palms started to sweat. My hands were no longer as steady as they had been the day before. I entered the class room in good time before the bell and figured I might as well start by passing out some of the handouts. I had barely pulled out my second stack of handouts when one of the students raised her hand. My first question, and the class hadn't even started yet! With nervous anticipation I asked her what was the matter. ``Is this economics 101?'' she asked. Now, this had happened to me as an undergraduate - going to the wrong classroom the first day - so I figured I had better set things straight. This was after all computer science 326. With confidence in my voice I asked the class: ``Now, what class is this?'' The reply came promptly: ``Economics 101!!'' Defeat! Loss of face! As the blood quickly ran to my head and my facial color approached that of a ripe tomato, I stuttered something unintelligible and quickly accepted the handouts that were now being handed back to me, before I hurriedly left the scene.
Now, this really spelled trouble! ``Where was my class?'' I ran back to my office and examined the departmental schedule. My relief could only be compared to my embarrassment of discovering that I had read the schedule wrong! My quiz section was not until Thursday!
Thursday came around, and the weather was the same as I made the same walk I had done two days earlier. My heart beat a little faster and my palms did sweat, just like it had been on Tuesday. However, this time I was sure about my destination. My class would be there eagerly awaiting my arrival. I walked into the classroom knowing that this would be it. However, great was my surprise when I recognized the students from Tuesday. When they saw me, they smiled, shook their heads and pointed at the door.
My humiliation was complete! A feeling of panic and despair was slowly rising within me. Nauseated, I started running back towards Sieg and safety. I ran down the corridor towards the schedule that I knew was posted outside the door of the administrative office. There it was. The building and room number of my quiz section had been scratched out and a room in the Electrical Engineering Building had been written in with a red pen! Without a clue as to the whereabouts of the Electrical Engineering Building I burst into the office and cut everybody off with cries of desperation: ``Where is the Electrical Engineering Building? My class is waiting for me! Quickly, I need to know!'' Thus having attracted attention from everyone on that side of Sieg Hall, I quickly got the information I needed and ran out as fast as I could. I ran through the rain, not bothering to open my umbrella. Time was in short supply. I ran up the stairs as the bell rung, and sprinted down the hallway, looking for my room. I burst through the door, and conversation stopped as if someone had pulled the plug on a tape player. Wet from the rain, sweating from the run, and completely out of breath, it was finally time to face my quiz section.