'This isn't Young Sheldon': Exam-taker asks fragile student to swap seats, causing her to fail said exam

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
May 13, 2024 6:00 PM EDT

I believe in exam rituals. They can be high-pressure situations, so it's up to you to do everything in your power to make yourself sane. And there are plenty of tips and tricks designed to help you succeed. I remember someone recommending chewing a certain flavor of gum when you're learning/studying, and then chewing the same gum at the exam, to help use your senses to jog your memory. I once knew a girl who showed up to the ACT wearing a nice dress, heels, and a string of pearls, to induce girlboss mode I suppose. 

But one of the biggest and most sensible tactics is to sit in the same seat you usually sit in during class. It's a practical tip, but one that caused one Redditor a whole lot of grief, after an unexpected turn. And in rare form, commenters' opinions were split on who to blame. Whose side are you on?

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 9919222016
    via Unseen Studio
  • 02
    r/AmltheAsshole u/Tight-Type248.1h AITA for asking a girl to move from my unassigned assigned seat and causing her to fail the final exam?
    via u/Tight-Type248
  • 03
    here. So, I'm (20F) I fear I may be the currently a student studying neuroscience at a very big university (40k+ people). Lots of our classes are held in these huge lecture halls because of the class sizes. I'm taking a class right now that technically has around 150 people rostered for it, but because it is at 8am, roughly 20 kids show up consistently. I show up to every lecture and sit in the same exact seat every time.
    via u/Tight-Type248
  • 04
    We had our final exam this morning, and I had studied my off for it. My life for the past three weeks has been this exam, because I need a good grade on it to boost my GPA and keep my scholarship. Something I've heard many times is that when you take exams you should sit in the same place you sit in class, because studies have proven that students do better when they sit in the same place.
    via u/Tight-Type248
  • 05
    So, I show up to class today and find someone I don't recognize sitting in "my" seat (not really mine, just the seat I sit in every class). It's the last seat in the row, and I would have to sit somewhere completely different now. I sort of panicked and asked her nicely to move, and pointed out a seat that was open maybe 10ish feet from us in another row. Mind you, the lecture hall seats about 250 people, so there were definitely open seats. The girl scoffed and got up and left. Like just exited
    via u/Tight-Type248
  • 06
    An acquaintance of mine that regularly shows up to this class tapped me on the shoulder about a minute later and asked if I knew where the girl went, and I said no, and asked how they knew each other. Turns out they're roommates, and the girl that I asked to move has pretty bad social anxiety so she can't come to class. They'd been helping her work up the courage to come take the final so she could save her grade and not have to retake the class. And she I guess got anxious when I asked her to m
    via u/Tight-Type248
  • 07
    workingmydeskjob ⚫ 1h Partassipant [4] YTA but you're not responsible for the fact that she failed the exam. IMO it's to care so much about your seat that you'd ask someone to move. It makes sense she freaked out IMO, given she has social anxiety and you're confronting her over nothing. Sitting in the same seat was not important to your grade, not even somewhat. This is just a great example about how you'll never know how your rudeness will impact someone. You say if you'd known, you wouldn't ha
    via u/workingmydeskjob
  • 08
    Even Enthusiasm7223 1h Enthusiast [6] If it's not an assigned seat. Then she didn't take your seat. Just because you sat there everyday is not your spot. This isn't young Sheldon and you don't get the claim seat if it's not assigned. So you asked her to move and she freaked out, that part it's not your problem. Your problem was asking her to move in the first place. For that you were wrong Yta
    via u/Even_Enthusiasm7223
  • 09
    ChocolatMacaron • 11m Partassipant [1] YTA. If you cared that much about getting the right seat you should have been there early to try and ensure it. You didn't know why she was sitting in that seat, it might have been random, or it might have been that it had the perfect lighting, or placement, or she got test-passing-vibes from it. But you felt your reasons for wanting that seat outranked whatever her reasons were for sitting there. That's why YTA, her having social anxiety doesn't even facto
    via u/ChocolatMacaron
  • 10
    Angelo Pappas • 58m Commander in Cheeks [225] YTA - There was no need to ask her to move regardless if she had social anxiety or not. You are not entitled to an unassigned seat and it makes zero difference if your ability to write your exam. If you wanted a specific seat you should have arrived earlier. If you get there and it's taken oh well, too bad. Granted her leaving the exam over this is extreme, it still would not have happened had you just been a normal person and found another seat for
    via u/AngeloPappas
  • 11
    NAH. Informal_Flight_6932 • 40m Asking someone to let you have "your" seat isn't an move. It's a little obsessive, but you're not an . I personally, if you asked me for the seat, would have shuffled over indifferently and forgotten you existed 5 seconds later. I might have thought it was a weird request, but honestly I probably would have thought that you had anxiety and just done it to end the interaction smoothly as I would have had no attachment to the chair. If you knew about the severity of
    via u/Informal_Flight_6932
  • 12
    Willowgirl78 • 20m NAH. In so many other contexts, including seat selection, people say it doesn't hurt to ask. If you kept pushing after a refusal, you'd be the AH. You are in no way responsible for anyone else's invisible issues that you had no way of knowing about. I'm more concerned that the student who left seems to be so crippled by her anxiety that she cannot fulfill her class requirements and doesn't seem to be seeking help. If she had, I'm assuming the counselor or whomever would have r
    via u/Willowgirl78
  • 13
    tacospaghettidad2.59m Partassipant [3] YTA, there are not assigned seats, meaning the seats are on a first come basis. If you wanted "your" seat, you should have been there early enough to take it. You are not entitled to that seat, it is there for anyone in the class who gets their first and takes it... However, you are NTA for making her leave and not come back (if she didn't come back) as you didn't know about her situation. You didn't know, and had you known you would have handled it differe
    via u/tacospaghettidad2
  • 14
    Scottysmoosh • 9m You are allowed to politely ask, she is allowed to politely reply. That is how normal people communicate. You did your part, she did not. You can't possibly be held responsible for the incredibly disproportionate result of your simple request. She needs to figure out how to function in a society or she is in for a very, very difficult life... Laughably and overwhelmingly NTA.
    via u/Scottysmoosh
  • 15
    ponyboycurtis1980 • 13m NTA and everyone saying YTA are deluded As. or pushy about it than asking Unless you were someone of you can have the seat they are in is pretty far from territory. If the other person is so damaged that they can't handle a simple, polite request then they should get some help and treatment.
    via u/ponyboycurtis1980
  • 16
    Acceptable-Ad-7282 12m • NAH. You asked nicely, you had a legitimate reason, and if it had been most of your other classmates they probably would have been fine with moving. You're not a bad person for inadvertently triggering a stranger's anxiety. This isn't the kind of situation you can plan ahead for with rules of etiquette.
    via u/Acceptable-Ad-7282
  • 17
    YTA laurasdiary 1h • Aficionado [13] Of course you're the A. It's not your seat. You put that person in an awkward position for no reason. If you wanted the seat, you should have gotten there earlier.
    via u/laurasdiary
  • 18
    No_Marionberry_6467.28m Partassipant [1] YTA. You didn't "make" her leave and thus fail, but c'mon really? You couldn't bear to sit in another -- seat? If you genuinely believe you ability to pass and maintain your scholarship is dependent on where you sit, you've got bigger problems than seating arrangements.
    via u/No_Marionberry_6467
  • 19
    Fafin50012 • 11m NAH. It's not the craziest thing in the world to want to sit in the seat you've been sitting in all semester, and is honestly fairly reasonable. She had no obligation to leave her seat, and fully leaving the entire class is just insane. Very strange response. If her social anxiety and tolerance for discomfort is that bad, she will be doomed to fail in life due to self inflicted failures like this, guaranteed. She needs treatment or some type of radical change in her situation. N
    via u/Fafin50012

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