WAC Run, Demystified
Posted by Ubiquitin on July 10, 2008
Two of my previous posts referred to something we call WAC. It stands for Written Analysis and Communication. But even the prof calls in WAC.
So, there’s this course. Prof walks in with a case. Class debates on what the problem is, and what its solution is. Everyone is satisfied at the end of the class. We then write a 1000 word report on how we analyzed the problem and logically arrived at the final conclusion. Submission in hardcopy in the classrooms, before 12:59:59 PM. Additionally, there is a softcopy submission on the server, before 2:29:59 PM on the same day.
So what’s the big deal? Write the report, print it out, and off you go to the classroom to submit it. If only it were that simple. Deadlines are sacrosanct in this campus, and in the spirit of honouring the deadline, we are expected (by the seniors) to submit the report as close to the deadline as possible, but not after it. The juniors, who in their newbie enthusiasm, tend to finish the report much before the deadline, thereby committing one of the worst crimes you could commit on campus.
How could the caring seniors let their beloved juniors commit such sacrilageous acts while they’re watching? They take it upon themselves to ensure that the deadline is honoured. How do they go about it? When the junior is happily packing his bag with the report safely inside, your friendly neighbourhood senior (FNS) walks in and casually enquires if everything’s done. Once the unsuspecting junior answers to the affirmative, the door is immediately closed, locked, and the key deposited safely in the pockets of FNS. This is usually followed by a round on banging on the door, pleading, threatening, and what not. In spite of whatever happens inside the room, the door is opened with just a couple of minutes before the deadline is over.
What follows is what is popularly known on campus as WAC run. The junior, in his struggle to meet the deadline, runs like he has never run before, all the way from his dorm to the classroom in the new campus. On the way, he encounters more seniors who prepare roadblocks for him all the way until his final destination.
With all the efforts taken, intellectual and physical, the smile on the junior’s face after he has handed in his assignment tells the seniors that it was all worth it. At least, they believe so. After all, they have all run many a WAC run just the year before.
