Tom’s grade-on-a-curve is reminiscent of an Aristotelian logic course—annoying genius got an 87 and ruined the curve for the rest of us—my score was somewhere in the mid-40’s, but (miraculously) wound up with a final B. The prof said it would all knit together in the end but nobody believed him until the end of the semester.
This was a six-week, virtual summer session. Nobody expected to do well. Tom was hoping for a C, because he needs to pass it to graduate.
He’s always done well under pressure if the goal was important to him.