When I was a senior in high school, I took some difficult classes. One of which was a college biology class. I am terrible at any STEM related class, specifically science, so it was already a difficult class. My professor didn’t help either. She didn’t teach, she would just say. And by this, I mean that she would read off the powerpoint, she wouldn’t teach it to us or explain anything.
In this class, no one liked the professor besides three girls. These girls were obviously favored by the professor which made it difficult for me to feel empathy towards the professor. But one day, a girl in my class explained to the professor how unfair it was that some people got special treatment. She went on a rant, which in my opinion was completely called for. Although it was an invasion of class time, I still believe it needed to be said.
For backstory, a week before this happened, my professor told this girl that she needed to focus more since her grade was bad. To my knowledge, professors are not allowed to disclose grades or comment on a students grades in front of other students, so this was an invasion of privacy. But, when this girl was visibly mad at the professor and called her out, one of the other girls that were favorited by the professor defended the professor. She began to yell at her classmate for saying things about the professor—these remarks caused the classmate to run out of the classroom and cry.
This incident made me feel both mad and sad. I was mad because someone was yelling at a classmate who had good intentions when calling out the professor. And sad because that same girl ran out of the room crying. She was belittled in class, her grades were disclosed with the whole class, and now she was considered the black sheep. As more class days came and went, I never forgot what happened. No one talked about it, and from then on out, the girl that was belittled never spoke in class again. My feelings never changed over time, but I did become less mad and more sad over the ordeal.
This interaction brought up these feelings because I do understand what it’s like to be belittled and ostracized. I was bullied in elementary school, which caused me to close off and not talk as much. In no way am I saying that me being bullied in third grade is the same as being yelled at in a college-environment class room. But I am saying that I understand what it feels like to have a “target on your back.” So when I saw her decline over this incident, I began to lose lots of respect towards the professor and the classmate that yelled at her.
