We get it: sometimes life is rough and homework is impossible. Maybe you forgot, maybe you didn’t want to do it, or maybe the temptation of the next season of Grey’s Anatomy was just too good to pass up. But with every missed assignment comes that “look” on your teacher’s face as they ask you what happened. Some of us are better than others at owning up to our mistakes. Others get creative. So, in honor of the procrastinators and creative liars in the world, here is a definitive list of the of the best excuses heard throughout the years, straight from the mouths of the teachers who had to hear it.

“Students usually tell me that the reason they didn’t complete an assignment was 1: They had work the night before or two: they just didn’t understand it so they thought it was acceptable not to complete any parts of it.”  -Ms. Yakich

“It’s always my wifi isn’t working, or every website works except for that one. That’s my favorite. The internet is totally fine expect for that website.” – Mrs. Stroud

“Someone told me Call of Duty just came out so they just couldn’t do it.” – Mr. Hannan

“I had a student tell me he didn’t do his homework because his mom was out of town. So he didn’t do his homework because she didn’t do it for him.” – Ms. Beck

“I crashed my car and my homework is in my car at the shop. I drove a rental today.” – Mr Ruppert

“I had to work last night, which basically, in their mind, meant they don’t have to do homework.” – Mr. Gressly

“I left my book bag at work and couldn’t do the homework… But everything was on Blackboard.” – Mrs. Miller

“I was binge-watching Game of Thrones and didn’t want to ruin my momentum to write my essay.” – Mr. Rhinehart

“A student said she had to leave a few minutes early from class because she had a new puppy she needed to let out or it would pee on the rug.” – Mr. Lyons

“I was going to do it, and then I found something better to do. Someone actually said that to me once.” – Mr. Truesdell

“I had a kid who said he didn’t do his homework because his car had caught on fire the night before. I sarcastically said, “Yeah right,” and then he proceeded to show me a video on his phone of his car on fire.” – Mr. Morris

And finally, to finish off, some of the greatest excuses in the words of the kids themselves (as obtained from Mr. Walkowiak’s drawer of “Senior Excuses”).

“I get CCAC tuition free, so I’m good.”

“I was told the world was going to end and decided to spend the rest of my life homework-less.”

“I already got into college.”

“A bear was starving and I had to raise it as one of my own to defend the homeland against all who dare intrude.”

“The McRib is back.”

“My dad is an FBI agent and some criminals wanted revenge and kidnapped his daughter (me) and they didn’t let me take my physics homework. Also they did not have calculators.”

And finally…

“I was there, you just never saw me.”

See any excuses you like? Feel free to try one out the next time you have a binge session. It won’t work, but at least you’ll get a laugh along with that zero.