Much to the secondhand embarrassment of his peers, freshman Evan Dermitt reportedly spent the entirety of Wednesday’s Intro to Psychology lecture on interpersonal relationships writing uncharacteristically detailed notes.
Dermitt’s atypically high level of engagement drew the attention of Dermitt’s classmate Paul Chen, who emphasized that this phenomenon left him both impressed and “bummed out.”
“Evan hasn’t taken a note in his life,” Chen said. “He doesn’t even have a psych notebook. He just pulled out the back of a failed orgo test and started writing things about similarities between partners and what causes animosity in a relationship.”
Writing over 1,000 words about emotional intimacy and the science of attraction, Dermitt cast furtive glances across the classroom to check if anyone had noticed the conspicuous volume of information he was taking in. Despite never having had a girlfriend, boyfriend, or any kind of significant romantic interest in his life, the freshman’s notes reportedly contained phrases like “remember this!” and “IMPORTANT” peppered throughout.
“I noticed Evan’s commitment to the lecture from two rows back,” said nearby student Abigail Mueller. “I can’t help but wonder if has doing this on purpose, like as a performance art piece. This isn’t even going to be on the final.”
Professionals in the department seemed to feel the same way as the student’s peers. Graduate student instructor David Lee voiced the same concerns as Mueller and Chen, adding that “we usually like to see students taking initiative. Evan has gotten Cs on his first two exams in this class, so it’d be great to see some improvement out of him.
“However,” added Lee, “his behavior in this particular lecture was just lame. I feel kind of bad for the kid.”
When reached for comment, Dermitt denied that his level of notetaking was abnormal. Additionally, Dermitt suggested that the professor spend more time discussing how to ask girls out.
