I don't like my grade the student says
You're not from here, are you?
the student says
You're not from here, are you?
the student says
So where are you actually from?
(India!) I thought so...
student smiles
I got the assignment wrong because
of your language (English?)
the student says
It is so rude of you, the student says
to say... that my assignment
didn't meet expectations
____________________________________________
Note: This came from a long and unsettling office-hour exchange with my one disgruntled student today. It felt demeaning and I was so... crushed. Luckily, it was also the day our PR team had alerted me to an alumni interview which spoke glowingly of me, so I had some balance. But I'd been working on a new version of our land and labor acknowledgment, so it also felt like I'd been wrestling with issues of prejudice all day.
Pic: No pic today--it was too, too hectic. My Thursdays are so long that they've become standard Subway-for-dinner days--Big A picks them up between his clinic and hospital shifts.
8 comments:
Oh my. I have TAs who have these issues (compounded by youth and inexperience) but you? Don’t students understand how lucky they are to be in your class? Ugh.
Oh Maya, my goodness, what a terrible exchange. I would be SO frustrated and also angry. And also deflated. WHAT YEAR IS IT AGAIN? Oh my god. I'm so sorry that happened to you, thank goodness for the PR team to at least balance out the awfulness.
Sigh. There is always one (at least). And it's impossible not to feel bad about it. I'm sorry.
Too bad.
I'm sorry. There are always going to be students like that, unfortunately.
I have an email folder where I put any emails that come my way with anything that might be even considered a compliment and I just look at the emails in that folder after bad interactions. So here's something for your "Happy" folder: I'm so glad I found you in bloglandia and you bring me much needed perspective and teach me a lot about living in a global world and being a caring, thoughtful person.
Feel free to put this in your "Happy" folder for when you need a boost.
Sarah--Heh, thank you...
Nicole--"deflated" is the perfect word to describe how it felt.
Nance--Yes... I mean I know intellectually that hurt people hurt people, but it's difficult not to take it personally.
Gillian--Yep.
Steph--Thank you.
Engie--That gave me such a boost, thank you <3
I'm late with my comment, I had it saved in favorites to respond. I have one word for them - ASSHOLE. You can tell the student I said that. Sorry you had to deal with that.
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