Jacob Jones, a Blaine High School freshman, told reporters last night that he was hoping for a better exam performance next time after “totally choking” first tri.

Jones said that his lamentable scores were caused largely by a deal that he made with his grandma.  “We made a deal that I’d get $25 for every A that I got, $10 for every B, and $5 for every C.  Thinking about that money made me completely fall apart.”

Coming into the final exam in Physical Science with an 88% in the class, Jones needed a clutch performance to secure the $25.  He proceeded to score a 72% on the exam, forgetting most of what he learned about Newton’s Laws of Motion, the Scientific Method, and how to use a ruler.  The abysmal performance killed any chance of him getting an A.

Even worse was Jones’ performance on his English exam.  Sitting at an 84% in the class, all Jones needed was a passing grade on the final to secure his $10.  “The final exam was an essay.  We were given a prompt and had to write an essay about it in one class period.  The prompt was something like, ‘what is justice?’ I just kind of froze up and stared at my piece of paper for the entire hour.  I failed the essay and got a C in the class.”

Worst of all was his AP Geography final.  He came into the final with a 72% in the class, with the possibility of not getting any money looking more and more likely.  “I just couldn’t concentrate on the geography at all,” Jones said.  “All that I could think of was that $5, and my mind just kept going back to that.  I got nervous.  My hand started shaking.  I couldn’t focus on the problems.  I just totally choked.”  Jones wouldn’t tell us his score on the test, but he assured us that he didn’t make any money.

Jones performed decently on his finals in Gym and Ceramics, but he couldn’t overcome his total collapse in the other classes.  His grades earned him a measly $50.

When asked what he was going to do differently next time, Jones said that he needed to block out distractions, stay in the moment, and take it one problem at a time.  “I’m not a choker.  Those exams were not me.  I’ve got to put those behind me and come back fresh next time.”