Twenty years ago my company sent me back to school for further education. So I went back to school three years after graduating from college.

    I was a little bit nervous, so I tried to prepare myself the best I could. I bought all my textbooks before the classes started. Then I went to the school the week before and found exactly where my classroom was. I packed my bag full of books and left early on the morning of the class to be sure that I got there on time.

    We all crowded into the classroom and the professor introduced himself to the class. He wrote his contact information on the blackboard and told us to write it down. I was just opening up my bag to get out a notebook when I realized that I didn't have one. I searched through my bag for a piece of paper, but I had none.

    I asked the student seated at the desk next to me, “Excuse me, could I borrow a piece of paper, please?” He looked at me a little strangely, but gave me several pieces.

    I was so embarrassed. Here I was on my first day of class and I had not even brought any paper with me. I opened my bag again to get out a pen to write down the teacher's contact information. No pen. I got the attention of the student next to me again. “Excuse me, could I borrow a pen, please?”