A/N: Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews! I couldn't thank everyone in person due to the guest reviews, so I hope you'll read it here how happy you made me! And of course, thank you Hazelra7 my wonderful beta! :-)
After their lunch break, Marion welcomed them all back and wanted to start with their next topic. "We will soon start our camera exercise. Before, as a preparation, I will tell each of you a topic to defend, which doesn't necessarily have to be something you like. To convince the group of your opinion, I'd like you to follow these five steps," and while explaining, she went to the chalkboard to write down the headwords for each step.
"First, state your topic.
Second, explain why you have that opinion.
Third, tell us examples supporting your view.
Fourth, summarize your thoughts.
And fifth, appeal to the others to follow you.
We will do now a test run without the camera."
Marion looked around, searching for her first 'victim'. During lunch, she had heard one of the girls complaining about the acrid smell of smoke in most bars. She had her trying to convince the others to start smoking. Another guy had been introduced as coming to work by bike or jogging each morning, and she gave him the topic 'sports will kill you'. It had been quite funny to see them come up with arguments for that.
Next one was Sheldon. Marion said, "Sheldon, you asked earlier if this was a hippie convention. Now I'd like you to convince the others to participate in one."
"Alright, I'd like you to participate in a hippie convention… I have that opinion because you won't be achieving anything significant in your life anyway, so you can as well go and express your feelings there. As an example, just look at koalas. They're happily hanging around, so can you. To summarize, it's a great idea for all of you to go there, because then I can work in peace and no one will be bothering me. So here's my appeal: Go, become a hippie, love is all you need and give my peace a chance," he finished in his bored lectural tone.
"Oh. Well, okay, you followed the five steps. Is anyone here who would follow Sheldon's appeal?" Marion asked the others, seeing all of them shaking their heads.
"And why is that so?... Anyone?... Amy perhaps?" Marion continued.
"Oh no, I will not play the bad cop here. Could you tell him, please?" Amy asked.
Marion sighed. "Sheldon, it might have been more convincing if you wanted to go there yourself. You may appear to others as… well let's face it… arrogant and condescending. You should try to convey to your listeners the feeling that you're trying to understand them."
"But I don't care about that." Sheldon didn't understand the problem.
"Convincing others is also about empathy and caring for them," Marion tried to explain further. "I'm sure there are… things you care about?"
"There are," he quickly glanced at Amy, "But you picked the worst example," he said.
"Well, that's what I do," Marion grinned. "But next thing, you will choose a topic of your own for our camera experience. Just try to think what you would expect if you were in the audience… and don't tell people their work sucks, okay?"
He nodded, and she turned to Amy next. "Now Amy, I've learned that your work is quite outstanding. So I'd like you to convince us to excel in our work instead of having children," Marion proposed.
"Okay," Amy thought for a moment. "Today I will explain to you the significance of excelling in your work instead of starting a family. Although our body is wired to the biological imperative to reproduce, the strong-minded – and I think we all like to call ourselves that – can control their baser urges. Especially in times of an increasing world population and limited reserves of raw materials, it should be our main goal to ensure our place in history by our scientific achievements instead of the number of children we raised. I believe if you really want to contribute to science and stay on the Nobel track, you have to dedicate your life to it, and let's face it, a husband or family are a major distraction. Consider the monks or nuns in a monastery, they have also dedicated their life to a higher purpose and are totally content with it. Or look at Emmy Noether, a famous mathematician as you all know who spent her life solely in the pursuit of knowledge. If she had started a family, no one would have spoken about her ever after. And finally I myself have chosen this path, and so can you. Therefore I believe for the advancement of science and the pursuit of knowledge it is imperative to concentrate on our work instead of being ruled by our endocrine system. And I sincerely appeal to you to do the same."
Sheldon had turned very pale at her words. Was that really what she thought? They had never actually discussed it, apart from mentioning cool names for Martian children, but he had always assumed she'd want a family. Not that he was ready for that, of course… But how could she simply take away their hypothetical benign overlords with her cruel argumentation? And what was that part with controlling their baser urges suddenly about, especially after the lunch break they had just shared? He thought she had been enjoying it as well… but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to him like she was indeed considering him as a distraction for reaching her goals in life.
Marion was speaking already, but not really penetrating his thoughts. "…and you've made quite a convincing case, although you were using rather long and complicated sentences. So for the next time, keep it simple. If people have to concentrate too much, they'll get tired and won't follow you anymore." With these words she looked at Sheldon as if to emphasize it, but he was just staring blankly through her.
"Now, for our camera exercise, we will do it a bit differently," Marion decided to continue, moving to the chalkboard again. "First of all, for a more confident voice, you can come to the front and stand before us instead of crouching in your seats. And then you will convince us with your argumentation." Again, she wrote down five points.
"First, state your topic.
Second, give us arguments of understanding the opposite side.
Third, present your own arguments.
Fourth, give us your point of view with a judgement of these arguments.
And fifth, appeal to the others to follow your demands.
I will give you some time now to think again of a topic you want to talk about, and then we'll see what you've got and analyze it together. This would be a good time for our coffee break."
When they got up to leave the room, Sheldon awakened from his stupor, exited hastily and was nowhere to be found. Amy was confused, because this was not his regular time for bowel movements, so where could he have gone all of a sudden?
She looked around in the other rooms, then went downstairs and spotted him outside, leaning his back against the wall, slumped down to a squat with his head in his hands.
"There you are," she sighed, but he didn't answer and kept staring at his knees.
"Sheldon, what's the matter? Why were you running off like this?"
He finally looked at her with hollow eyes and lips pressed together tightly. "I just needed some fresh air," he said monotonously.
"Since when? Sheldon, you're worrying me!"
"Since you broke up with me to revel in your science after using me as a stress relief just an hour before!" He said, more forcefully than he intended, and stood up.
"Whoa, whoa, wait, when did that happen?" They just had such a good time during lunch… hoo really good… Then she played back her speech in her head. No, he couldn't really think she was serious about that?
"Sheldon, this was simply the topic Marion gave me," she started, but had already rushed past her.
Striding back into the building, he called back to her in a determined tone, "I'm not done with you. I haven't even started to be convincing yet!"
Having finished their coffee break, Marion was just asking if anyone would like to volunteer for the camera exercise, as Sheldon stormed in, followed by Amy.
"I need to go first! Put that camera up now!" He turned towards Amy. "I don't care what these people think, I'm not gonna let you walk away like this!"
Amy wanted to protest, but Marion interrupted her, "Let him speak, I've got a feeling he found a topic he's convinced of himself…"
Sheldon ignored the camera completely and stared at Amy, standing in front of her table. He had a slightly crazed appearance with his disheveled hair, his hands balled to fists and the intense glare he was giving her.
"I will convince you that you can have a scientific career and a fulfilling relationship with the one you love, and even a family. You said monks and nuns have decided to pursue that lifestyle for themselves. But that's not what we have chosen, nor would we be happy with it. You brought up Emmy Noether. She is a typical example of intelligent women in society at that time. Despite her genius it was hard enough for her to even be allowed to give lectures. Why haven't you mentioned Marie Curie instead? She had two kids and two Nobel prizes, so gotcha! And this has become much easier today with equal rights and day-care centers. In an equal partnership the family duties would be well-balanced."
He had calmed down a bit and licked his lip before he continued. "And finally… I myself had always been convinced I never needed anyone in my life; that relationships would only distract me from the pure path of knowledge. But… I'm not too proud to admit I've been wrong. Oh, it is a distraction all right, but I'm not losing any IQ points over it. If anything, at times I find myself even more focused. My mind is more challenged and intrigued by everything I never thought possible… If two people truly care about each other… there should be enough left over for a six-ounce Nobel medal and a twelve-pound toddler."
In a soft voice he finished, "Don't give up on us, Amy."
Amy couldn't help gawking at Sheldon's declaration for her. Oh yes, he had pontificated his way into her heart all over again.
Marion smiled at her. "Has this been convincing for you?"
Amy couldn't tear her gaze away from Sheldon whose eyes were still piercing hers. "Hoo," she managed to get out, not realizing she had been holding her breath. She cleared her throat and tried again, "It was indeed. Very much so," she finally answered. "I would be very much inclined to follow his appeal. But as I can finally have a say in it… I want you to know that giving up was never my intention, nor was this anything you needed to convince me of originally. "
The whole group was smiling now, happy for them, although they'd all just met each other that day. Sheldon was oblivious to that, his eyes were just fixed on Amy, and he seemed to have calmed down by her words. "Good," he finally said and sat back down next to her.
Amy was still shaken by his declaration and was glad the others continued now first with their speeches. At last she stood up as well to present her topic. "Uhm… I've thought of a tough one. You will be students humiliated by Sheldon, and I will be trying to convince you to continue with his lecture," she explained.
"Good luck with that," Marion said, turned on the camera and nodded, "And action!"
Amy looked into the round. "I know you're all upset and feel humiliated by the way Sheldon has been treating you in this first week of the semester – I would have been as well. I know he can be condescending, arrogant and self-absorbed, refusing to give you easy exercises or disseminate A grades all among you. But there's also another side of him you might get to know in due time," she continued, looking at Sheldon now with the hint of a smile.
"If you give him another chance, you will have the pleasure of being taught by one of the greatest minds of our century. It may not seem like it to you, but he is really trying," she winked at him secretly, and Sheldon's eyes widened as he understood she was hinting at their relationship as well.
Amy watched the other participants again. "You will become better students as much as he will become a better teacher. If you make an honest effort, he would go the extra bit to help you bridge the gap. And once you made the connections, you'll be better able to grasp not only the rest of the course, but also have an advantage for the rest of your academic careers. So while it may seem like a nightmare now, if you'll hang on for the ride, the end result will be worth the rough start of the journey. I know that getting a decent mark out of a tough prof satisfies more…" she glanced at Sheldon involuntarily, "than an excellent mark from a prof who hands out As." She paused for a moment, smiling as she had another idea.
"And if you have a genuine idea, he'll have the cutest little kitten sticker for you. So all I'm asking you is not to give up yet. In Latin, student means fervor and endeavor. Let's see this side of you and come to the lecture next week again."
Sheldon was finally smiling again that she chose him as her topic, patient as always and supporting him, quirks and all. She'd really deserve one of his 'meow' stickers later…
"Very good, your sentences are shorter this time, and even I'd think about giving him another try," Marion praised. "You'll all see yourselves in the film now, and then we can discuss some more if you like."
They watched the films together, also discussing their body language and getting helpful hints from Marion. Despite all their fun with flags episodes it was quite an eye-opener for Sheldon to watch himself. He was rather embarrassed by his public display of affection and didn't remember being that passionate… Was that how Amy perceived him, too? He secretly glanced at her, and she gave him a reassuring smile.
A/N1: I hope you liked the camera exercise... next one will be about quick-wittedness. Unfortunately I have to do my taxes on the weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll manage to post the next chapter on Monday, you might have to wait until Tuesday... Have a nice weekend everyone!
A/N2: Thank you so much IDICGlyph for telling me much more arguments that Amy could have said to convince the students to continue with Sheldon's lecture! I have included them now retrospectively here.