The first brother was relatively lazy, and even though he was able to achieve A's and B's without much effort in high school, he received a shock when he failed his classes freshman year. Over the next four years, he worked harder than he had ever worked before to bring his grades up. Despite his best efforts, when his college tenure reached its end, he found that his GPA was below the graduation threshold. Dejected and disappointed, the first brother was unable to graduate with his degree, the first victim of the university.
The second brother, learning from his older brother's mistake, started strong, finishing his freshman year with a 3.8 GPA and on the President's Honor Roll. Because of his early success, he began to fall into the same lazy ways of his older brother, and saw his GPA slip to a 2.9 by the end of his junior year. Desperate to regain his former glory, the second brother was caught cheating on an exam during his final semester, and was expelled from the university for academic misconduct. Because of this mark on his record, the second brother was also unable to graduate with his degree, the second victim of the university.
Now the third brother had seen both of his brothers suffer their fates, and was determined not to fall into the traps that both of them were victim to. Similar to his second brother, the third brother finished his freshman year on the President's Honor Roll with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Unlike his brother, however, he avoided the temptation of laziness, and continued his hard work, keeping his GPA above 3.5 for his entire college career. Because of this, when the time came for graduation, the third brother was able to successfully complete his degree and graduate. He would not fall as the third victim of the university.
When you're the one who got your degree
Source: PxHere
Author's Note: I wanted to create a modern take on the Three Little Pigs. In the original story, the first little pig built his house out of straw, but because of the lack of rigidity of straw, his house was easily blown down by the wolf, who ate him. The second little pig built his house out of sticks, which while slightly stronger than straw, was still no match for the wolf, who blew the house down and ate that pig as well. The third little pig, in his wisdom, built his house out of bricks, which the wolf was unable to knock down, rendering the third little pig safe from harm. I turned it into three brothers going to college, where the first two are unsuccessful at their attempts to obtain a degree, while the third one was able to complete their degree, not becoming victim like the first two did.
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).
Hi Sam, I really enjoyed your take on the Three Little Pigs, it was kind of relatable since it was from the perspective of college students, but you also made it entertaining to read. Your author's note also did a very good job in describing how you derived your story. Overall, this was very entertaining and well written, good job!
ReplyDeleteHi Sam! Your story was so fun to read! I didn't make the connection the the three little pigs at first, but once I read your author's note it made perfect sense. The first brother was a little too relatable for me. Going from the top of my class at a small town high school to the "big leagues" was such a struggle. Thankfully though, I'm in no danger of not graduating at this point. Great story!
ReplyDeleteHey Sam, this is another great modernization of a classic story. I think you have really nicely adapted the “three little pigs” story into three college brothers. I like how instead of being eaten by a wolf, these brothers are victims of the university. I am not sure exactly why but that made me laugh out loud. In all honesty, I think it’s so funny because we have all been there before, feeling like victims of the university. Overall, great story though!
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