Alex is thrilled to be taking a college course taught by one of his personal heroes, Professor Ephraim Bronski, but in his eagerness to impress the teacher he gets off to a bad start and is humiliated by his idol when he fails the first class assignment.

When his best friend, Doug, meets and falls in love with Eleanor, and decides to marry her, Alex resents the fact that someone has come between their friendship and refuses to be in the wedding.

Alex cannot accept the fact that he and everyone around him are growing up, and desperately clings to his old ways.