‘How To Beat Murphy’s Law,’ Now In Print

I start college early through a dual-credit program that takes place on the college campus. It has it’s own wing for non-college level classes for the freshmen and sophomores. Within this wing is a small student “lounge” with a few places to sit, the principal’s office, and printers for student use (versus the computer lab on the college side which charges 50 cents per charge card and 10 cents per page to print).

We have laptops for assignments dispensed to each of us, with filter programs and auto-connectivity to the high school’s secure WiFi. Nearly everything we turn in has to be typed, and as such there is always a small rush for students to get things printed the half hour prior to classes.

Most college students who have a few semesters under their belts will warn freshies of Murphy’s law: on the day of an assignment, when it comes to printing, somehow, somewhere, the printing WILL fail.

This is our first lesson in that law; the WiFi breaks down. The laptops are programmed to connect wirelessly to the printers and the lounge does not have computers to use for printing. Everyone panics. Our teachers play hardball with assignments; if you don’t have your assignment printed, too bad.

I have a bit of a light-bulb moment and flag down my rather laidback AP history teacher as he goes to open up his classroom for the morning and ask him if I can unplug his class PC from the network and plug it into mine so I can see if it will print.

This isn’t something most of our teachers would trust us with as we will be handling equipment on loan from the district signed off under THEIR names. He lets me try and I rush back to the lounge to hear the glorious sound of the printer.

Let me tell you the silent look of hope and wonder and the unsaid “Is it fixed? Is that mine?” on 20 to 30 faces of my peers is incredibly pleasing as was the desolation once the single assignment is assessed as not theirs and only one is forthcoming.

In that moment I was a bit of an a**-hole for relishing the fruit of my plan. Eventually I tell my closest friends, because I knew of the rush and there was only one plug in to the network, and then let the teacher reveal the secret behind the printing.

I’m still a little pleased even almost 10 years later that out of 20 to 30 interviewed and hand selected “gifted” and diversely intelligent students, I was the first to think of a solution and I beat Murphy’s Law. Stress-induced adaptability at it’s finest… I never did wait that long to print an assignment again, though.