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Terrell Finner is a student at Columbia University in New York City. He is studying to be a doctor.

But he should have his degree in social media.

Terrell Finner is a student at Columbia University. He carried out an elaborate prank on Twitter.

Finner posted a photo on social media dressed as if he were sick and in a hospital.

He posted the photo in hopes of being excused from an upcoming exam. In the photo, he used his bed sheets to look like a hospital gown. He put iPhone earbuds in his nose to make it look like he needed oxygen. And he used a computer charger to look like he was receiving intravenous fluids.

He even made a bracelet like the ones hospitals give to patients.

Along with the photo, he wrote several tweets. In the tweets, he complained about a nosebleed. He said he was in the hospital.

And then he posted other photos with the captions "Current situation." And "God got me."

He also wrote: "I'm emailing these pics (or pictures) to my chem prof (or professor) because I had a nosebleed & had to be hospitalized & can't take this midterm Wednesday."

One Twitter follower caught on to his joke quickly. He noted the pictures showed earbuds in Finner's nose. But that did not stop others on Twitter and social media from enjoying the joke and "liking" the pictures thousands of times.

Some people probably thought he was serious about being in the hospital. Others were just enjoying his creativity.

One of Terrell's friends wrote: "It's one thing when your foolishness is just amongst us, but now it's spread worldwide."

Finner later wrote: "I didn't expect it to become this popular."

Finner became a story himself when a blog posted some of his tweets. Finner later posted another photo of himself, saying he was released from the hospital. But he still needed oxygen, and those earbuds were still in his nose.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

What would you do to get out of an exam? Write to us in the Comments Section or on 51VOA.COM.

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Words in This Story

foolish – adj. having or showing a lack of good sense or judgment; silly

intravenous – adj. entering the body through a vein

excused - v. forgiving someone for doing something wrong or making a mistake

bracelet - n. a piece of jewelry worn around the wrist

caption - n. a sentence or group of words that appears next to a picture to explain what is being shown