Week 5 Storytelling: Phillip and the Hemp

                                                     Phillip and the Hemp

 There was once a senior student named Phillip and while in his apartment he smoked some hemp. Phillip smokes hemp on a daily basis, but this hemp was a very potent kind that he had never tried before. After he finished smoking, he picked up his things and went to his physics II course with Dr. Daylin. Phillip was listening to Dr. Daylin discuss how AC circuits worked, when he opened up Snapchat to take a selfie. While looking at his reflection on the screen he had the realization that he was the most handsome pre-medical student throughout all of the University of Texas. He then thought that such good looks could be used to his advantage to get him good grades and admission to medical school with ease.

            Instead of studying for his physics II, cell biology, microbiology, and biochemistry final exams he spent that time walking throughout campus and staring at his reflection. The day of his finals came and he walked into the exams not knowing anything and could not answer a single question. He went to each teacher and as he turned in his exams he looked at his teachers and flashed a smirk. He believed that this would charm any teacher, whether male or female, into giving him the A that he believed he deserved. However, reality hit him in the face like a brick wall when he looked at his transcript and saw four D’s.  He went to talk with all of his teachers and they told him that he obviously knew nothing from the material and he asked why his charm didn’t work. They laughed at him and said that only works with schoolgirls.

            With his head hung low, Phillip tried not to let this previous semester affect him too much and he had a medical school interview the following week. However, they asked that he bring an official current transcript to the interview. He put on his navy blue suit, best dress shirt and tie and travelled thirty minutes to his interview. He waited in the waiting area with a group of three other hopeful college seniors and he then realized it was a group interview. They were called into the interviewing room and they sat down. Phillip could feel the tension so thick in the air that he could have cut it with a knife. The committee sat down and began questioning them individually and they grilled Phillip about his previous semester grades. He told them a lie about his excuse, and hoped that his boyish charm would persuade them. At the end of the interview, the panel told them that one of the boys had been chosen to join their medical school and when the committee left they began arguing about who it was. It escalated rather quickly and as Phillip was about to punch one of the other students, he woke up in Dr. Daylin’s physics lecture. This dream scared Phillip into ensuring that he focused heavily on his studies and that year he was accepted into medical school.

Author’s Note: This story is based off of the tale of The Hemp-Smoker’s Dream. This story involved a man who smoked hemp and while at the barbershop dreamt that he was the most handsome man in the world. He then travelled to China to marry the king’s daughter and after completing a task with a group of fellow travellers the king said they could have his daughter. However, while they were heading back home they began to argue who could have the king’s daughter, when the man awoke in the barbershop. I used the framework of this tale to portray this tale as if it were told throughout our society. I worked to incorporate technology and college challenges.

Bibliography: The Hemp-Smoker’s Dream from Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer, illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).