Article July 19, 2004 Issue

'The cursor sat blinking...'

When a class assignment isn't what you expected

By Alison Tozier

It was just another biology period for most of the students in my class. As I looked around the room, I noticed the impassive looks of my peers as we got out our highlighters and prepared to read a lengthy article that had been put on our desks. I knew it would take at least the whole period to read. And stapled on the back was a lengthy worksheet that we were supposed to complete for homework. I tried to get comfortable in my hard, blue chair as I picked up the packet of stapled papers. But when I finally looked at the title that had already started to consume the attention of my classmates---"How Cancer Arises" —an uneasy feeling came over me.

To everyone else, reading an article like this probably very normal, and I doubt anyone would have understood why it made me uncomfortable. So I kept quiet. I didn't want to appear as if I had all the answers by trying to explain to my teacher that I think it's healthier for you to keep thoughts about disease out of mind.

The fact is, I know more about the disease than I would like to: In the past five years, three people in my life have passed away from some type of cancer. It's difficult not to let something like that affect you, and I knew that reading more details about it would just cloud up my thoughts with fear.

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