A college student had to beg her professor for another stab at an economics test, having accidentally flunked hers thanks to... a wayward meatball. No, seriously.
Sam Lee, 20, had been taking an exam while eating a meatball sub when part of the filling dropped out of the bread and onto the keyboard, in turn logging her out of the test prematurely.
After her results came back at a fairly woeful failing grade of 39 percent, she decided the only thing to do was to fess up to her professor in an email.
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"I had some technical difficulties and outside distractions during the test today," Sam, a junior at the University of Georgia, wrote in the email.
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"Something hit my computer and caused it to submit the test when I had less than half of the questions answered. By something, I mean a meatball that had tragically fallen onto my keyboard as I was taking the exam. This said meatball caused some malfunctions with my laptop and caused the test to submit itself."
She added: "I completely understand that a falling meatball is no excuse for the failing grade on this exam, but is there any possibility of retaking this test?"
It turned out that her professor was an understanding person - or perhaps the type who had once dropped a meatball on their keyboard, too - responding the next day to say she could have another stab at the exam.
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Her professor replied: "Samantha, well, this is certainly a new and unusual excuse for a low score! But for that reason it seems unlikely you've made this up.
"I've extended your deadline for the module 6 test until midnight tonight."
He added with a smiling emoji: "I would recommend you take the test either before or after dinner."
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Lee shared her story on Twitter, explaining how she was eating a meatball sub while taking the test when a meatball falls onto the keyboard and 'exits out of the test'.
She also posted screenshots of the amusing exchange with her professor, racking up more than 418,000 likes and 56,000 retweets.
She captioned the post: "Remember in high school teachers would be like 'your college professors will not tolerate this kind of behavior'."
Many commented to say how kind her professor had been - a sentiment that Lee shares.
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In an interview with BuzzFeed, she said: "I was overjoyed with his response."
Lee also confirmed she retook the exam that day, and 'did slightly better'.
Featured Image Credit: Twitter/Sam Lee