“I know it wasn’t exactly relevant to the course material,” Hartman said of the contribution, “but the professor looked my way. She had an expression that was like ‘hey, what a nice, well-mannered student.’ And the people around me definitely heard it. The guy who sneezed even said ‘thanks.’ I feel like I really represented myself well and provided some depth to our lecture, and isn’t that what professors are looking for?”

“I suppose I could have said it a little louder,” Hartman continued, “but at the end of the day it seemed like a nice, social volume. I barely even thought about it. Off-the-cuff remarks like these are what spark enriching conversations, right? Right?”

At press time, Hartman was validating a classmate’s point with an emphatic nod.