Girl Forgets Professor’s Name and Accidentally Submits Essay With a Cringeworthy Placeholder

Zoey Oxley, a freshman at Ohio University, got a hands-on lesson about the importance of proofreading after submitting a paper with a serious blunder: she referred to her professor as "Professor what's his nuts" in the heading because she couldn't think of his name, and frankly, we are so happy this happened. Zoey shared a few snapshots of her uh-oh moment on Twitter on Sept. 20, and not surprisingly, they went completely viral.

The panicked freshman told Buzzfeed News that she's always been terrible with names (which I can relate to on a deep level). "So, when I was writing the paper, I blanked on the professor's name and filled it in with 'Professor whats his nuts,' just as a placeholder," she said.

After cracking a joke or two to her friend about how much trouble she'd get in if she ever turned her assignment in with that heading, she did just that. She flippin' hit the submit button! "As soon as I closed my laptop, it hit me," she said. "And I immediately started freaking out and trying to resubmit." Cue the heart palpitations.

At the point, Zoey knew she needed to swallow her pride and write him an email copping to her mistake, and it's one for the books.

"I am writing this email very embarrassingly," she wrote. "As I began writing my paper, I wrote out the template. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember your last name, so I filled it with something completely unprofessional. It was my intention to change the name before submission, but it completely slipped my mind. I attempted to resubmit the assignment but was unable to. I am so very sorry for the lack of respect that was used and again I apologize for this mistake. I hope this does not reflect what you think of me and that the next assignment I can address [you] by the correct name. Thank you and I am so sorry."

When Professor what's his nuts John Hendel, a first-year MFA student teaching a general education class, first got Zoey's email, he admitted he didn't think much of it. "I thought they had just misspelled my name, so I appreciated the apology but didn't put much thought into it," he said.

Then he went to grade her paper the next day.

"I see 'Professor what's his nuts' at the top and immediately recognized the student's name," he said, adding that he actually thought the mix-up was quite funny. "I found it hilarious. I went back to their email and basically said, 'Oh, THAT'S what you meant!'"