Have you ever had a classmate who repeatedly wandered into class late, prepared with an excuse but forgetting something as simple as a pencil?

If not, it’s bound to happen at some point, and the excuses students come up with to explain their situations can range from unbelievably truthful to down right hopeless.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Cynthia Woodbridge previously worked at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she had a non-traditional student, who was also a parent, tell her his child had hand, foot and mouth disease.

“My first response was ‘please for the love of God, do not come to the final,’” Woodbridge said. “Because I know how contagious hand, foot and mouth disease is.”

The student provided Woodbridge with documentation proving his child was sick, and ultimately the two determined a way to handle the situation.

“There’s always going to be a circumstance where one needs something special, and I have no problem trying to accommodate that,” Woodbridge said. “My biggest advice to students, is just don’t lie to me. Tell me the truth, whatever it is, and we’ll figure it out.”

Unlike Woodbridge’s student who used a medical excuse, sophomore Jordan Miller used a clothing malfunction as an excuse in high school.

“One time I was late to physics and when my teacher asked why, I said it was because it took me forever to pick out the perfect pair of sweats to go with my shirt,” Miller said.

Her teacher at the time responded by giving Miller a 30-minute morning detention for being a “smart aleck.”

Sophomore Anna Hobbs has a more relaxed and comical way of delivering her excuses to professors by joking about the size of Baker.

“A lot of times, if it’s a professor I’m comfortable with and they ask why I’m late, I’ll just say I got lost and then they’ll laugh,” Hobbs said.