Never A Fan Of People Who Like Walls (Of Text)

(I’m a girl and a senior. I’m taking a class with a professor I’ve had previously. I get put in a project group with three men who are juniors. We are getting ready for our final presentation when I discover that one of the men has altered our PowerPoint. He and I have butted heads all semester, as I know how the professor likes projects done, and he does not believe me.)

Me: “[Classmate #1], did you mess with my slides?”

Classmate #1: “I didn’t like your slides, so I fixed them!”

(My slides were previously short bullet points. They are now a massive wall of text.)

Me: “Dude. Dr. [Professor] always says not to put a ton of text on our slides. He wants to us to tell him about our project. He doesn’t want to read a bunch of slides. The PowerPoint is there to enhance our parts, not take them over.”

Classmate #1: “You keep saying that, but I don’t think you’re right!”

Me: “I’ve had Dr. [Professor] for two other classes, and that’s always what he says. And he means it!”

Classmate #2: “HEY! You edited my slides, too!”

Classmate #1: “Yours didn’t have enough text either! Just those graphs!”

Classmate #2: “[My Name] has had Dr. [Professor] multiple times, so we should listen to her.”

Classmate #1: “FINE. I’ll put them all back the way they were, but I’m leaving all the text on mine. I know what I’m doing. All my past professors love the level of detail in my presentations!”

Me: “Whatever, [Classmate #1]. But make sure you tell him that you did your own slides.”

Classmate #1: “Of course I will!” *smirks*

(A couple days later, we’ve just finished our presentation, and are waiting on feedback.)

Professor: “[My Name], nice job on the intro and setup of your group’s findings. You always do very well at that. [Classmates #2 and 3], the graphs and charts were a great touch, and really added value to the presentation. [Classmate #1], I sense your enthusiasm, and your research was great, but your slides were a wall of text. Nobody wants to sit there and read slides.”

Classmate #1: “But—”

Professor: “Overall, very well researched and thought out. Nice job!”

Classmate #1: *turns to me as we’re walking to our seats* “You should’ve warned me!”

Me: “I DID, several times! You didn’t listen! Just like you haven’t listened the whole semester!”

(I heard the professor snort and start chuckling. Classmate #1 stomped back to his seat.)