High School Chemistry Lab Report Accidentally Lists 'A Will To Live' As Required Material

A chemistry lab report materials list that erroneously includes 'a will to live' as a required supply, accompanied by a teacher's handwritten note questioning the entry, a 34/35 'Excellent' grade, and the student's self-deprecating comment about the typo.

This image is a screenshot of a tweet posted by X (formerly Twitter) user @quienvoo, featuring his own chemistry honors lab report. The tweet opens with the text 'don't forget to proofread, kids'. The left panel shows the full first page of the lab report, which is dated March 28, 2017, and received a 34/35 grade marked 'Excellent' by the teacher. The materials list on the report mistakenly includes 'a will to live' alongside standard lab supplies such as 6M HCl, glass cylinders, copper wire, and magnesium ribbon. The teacher marked the erroneous line with a question mark and a handwritten note reading 'um, yes - but leave this stuff out of lab reports'. The student added a self-deprecating caption at the bottom of the left panel saying 'i'm an actual idiot'. The right panel is a close-up crop of the materials list, highlighting the accidental 'a will to live' entry and the teacher's question mark next to it.

This meme originated as a public tweet posted on X (formerly Twitter) by user @quienvoo, who is the student that wrote the lab report with the typo. The post went viral shortly after it was shared in 2017, as it resonated with audiences as a relatable joke about student burnout, silly proofreading mistakes, and the shared experience of feeling exhausted while completing schoolwork. It has since been widely reposted across social media platforms including Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok, often used as a reaction joke to express burnout or to mock careless typos.