Stories that land

Manabu Kishi and the course that sounded easy

Short on college credits, Manabu Kishi asked a student in a higher year for advice about a course.

Before the story

Comedian Manabu Kishi (どきどきキャンプ・岸学) recalls a college course he took when he was short on credits.

Looking for course credit

Manabu Kishi here. In college, I was worried because I didn’t have enough credits. I asked a student in a higher year, who told me about a course called Introduction to Social Welfare. Easy credit, apparently, and a really funny instructor.

The instructor always brought hot tea. Every five minutes, they’d take a sip, then click their tongue: “Tch, tch, tch, tch.”

On a sunny day: “Well, look at you all, coming to class when the weather’s this nice. I’ll give you the credit.”

On a rainy day: “Fancy making the effort to come in with all this rain. I’ll give you the credit.”

During the Olympics: “The Olympics—gold, silver, bronze, all that. Something to celebrate, anyway. I’ll give you the credit.”

That was the sort of instructor this was. But there was an exam, and I didn’t know any of the answers. So I wrote “Please give me the credit, please give me the credit, please give me the credit,” over and over…

And on a five-grade scale—A, B, C, D, E—I got an A!

Naturally, I wanted to know why. All I’d written was “Please give me the credit.”

So I asked, “Why did you give me an A?”

The answer was: “For a student these days, you’d written a lot.”

…There’s laid-back, and then there’s that.

A long-haired speaker in gray holds a microphone before six audience members seen from behind. A chart appears behind the speaker, and ELLE is written on one audience member’s blue clothing.
Text in the illustration:ELLE → ELLE

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