Professor Prick

            During my 1^st semester at BCC, I was taking this basic marketing class. There were about 75 students or so in the class, which was quite large compared to some of the others. However, they had accommodated and given us a large, modern, university style classroom with stadium seating. The teacher was really sharp in several facets. He was very quick-witted and always dressed like a 19960’s fashion icon. He was really intelligent on the material that we covered and always had a way to make it interesting. He would also crack hilarious jokes on a regular basis; usually it was related to the coursework, but sometimes at the expense of a student. The guy had a real cocky; “I’m much smarter than you”, type of persona that he gave off. He was a true orator and linguist; therefore, getting into a debate with him in front of the class would always end unfavorably. His class was pretty entertaining compared to some of the other business classes, but the guy also made people nervous. When you didn’t know the answer to a question, he always had a degrading response. Also, we would go over our homework assignments at the beginning of every class, so if you were called on for a response, you were immediately the center of attention for 75 students.

            It was because of this reason, which I always made sure that I was prepared for class. The homework questions were always designed for open-ended answers. Everyday when we were going over the homework questions, there was a sense of tension in the air. It was as if all 75 of us were walking on egg-shells even though we were seated. After we would go over our homework ritual, the tension would ease a bit and his jokes would just become funnier. It was as if we no longer feared him anymore for that day, and we were just relieved.

            On a number of occasions he had called on a random student to answer a question from the homework. Sometimes, the questions for the homework were difficult and complicated. I would get frustrated and nervous while doing my homework, because I would automatically picture a series of events in my head. These events would include him calling on me for an answer I did not have, and him making a spectacle out of it. It was such a fear of mine because I had seen it happen to others, and while it would be happening to others it would make us all cringe. Therefore, over-thinking these open-ended answers that were sometimes non-existent in the chapters would cause me a lot of stress.

            Anyways, one class we were going over our homework and I was praying to myself that he didn’t call on me. He never called on people in alphabetical order or by the place you were sitting, or with any type of order. He always had a list of all the names in the class, and he would always choose one at random.

            I remember stressing over one question for literally hours, and still ending up with a horrible answer that I knew was incorrect. I was just hoping that if he were to call on me for that question, he would at least see that I had tried and give me a pass. Anyways, when we got to that question and I knew that I still hadn’t been called on for a while, I was shaking a bit.

            The magnitude of the relief that passed through my veins when he called on someone else was invigorating. But then the student responded with; “Sorry, I didn’t get that one”. It was a logical response, like I said; I worked at it for hours only to get a bad answer. But, we all knew what was going to come next.

            “What do you mean, you didn’t get that one? You see people; this is what I’m talking about. When you come unprepared for class you are not just wasting my time, you are wasting everybody’s time;” the professor responded. The student looked very uncomfortable, and the professor continued. “I don’t think you realize, they don’t pay me very much to teach this class. My time is valuable; it can be spent in much better ways than with students who don’t even take the time to do an assignment”.

            Everybody was very tense and just hoping that he would move along, but he didn’t. “What are you going to do in the future when your boss gives you a project to work on at home? Are you just going to show up to work the next day and tell him that you couldn’t do that one”?

            We all thought he was going to keep rambling on but this time he wasn’t. He was waiting for a response from the student. The student was very stressed out at this point and I began to feel bad for him. I knew that it could have just as easily been me sitting in his seat, and I know what I would be going through. Finally, the student said; “I don’t know”.

            The teacher giggled to himself slightly and mocked the student; “I don’t know”? He continued; “You would just tell your boss you don’t know? What do you think your boss would say to that”? Again he was waiting for a response, but he wasn’t going to get one from the student, he was going to get one from me. I was so fired up and sick of his bullshit by this point.

            As a child I had struggled with anger issues, (Thanks Dad) but I had gotten them mostly under control. The only thing I could never get past and still cannot is when I see people getting taken advantage of. Whether it is me, or somebody else who is unwilling to stand up for themselves. I simply will not tolerate it.  

            “You are the one wasting the time”, I blurted out. Immediately his head turned, just like a frightened deer. “Who said that”, he responded. I raised my hand. He looked at me and said, “What did you say? What did you interrupt my class to say”?

I responded; “You are the one who is wasting time. The kid said he didn’t know the answer, so leave him alone. Move on to the next student, maybe they will know it. But instead you go on a rant about wasting time? We are the ones who are paying you to teach the class, so how about giving us a little respect. You are the only one who is wasting time. Don’t you think that is ironic”? The class was dead silent. The professor then asks me; “What’s your name”?

Me: “Why? So you can give me a failing grade on the next exam? My name is not important”

Him: “Well then I will see you after class then and we can talk about it instead of interrupting my class.”

Me: “Nope. Sorry. I can’t, I got places to go. My time is valuable”. I heard a few chuckles from the class, which I am positive hurt his ego.

            Finally, the professor moved on and looked on his attendance sheet for another student to call on for a response. Surprisingly, he only called on male students for the remainder of the class. I could tell that he was trying to find out who I was, and he kept looking at me. It wasn’t difficult to tell that he still had a vendetta to resolve.

            Anyhow, I just left the class as usual that day and things went back to normal. The guy was an arrogant prick and he needed somebody to put him in his place. The next class he had called on me and so he eventually found out my name, and of course my grades suffered a bit because of it. I ended up getting a C in the class, but I didn’t regret my actions one bit. He did turn into less of a jerk as the semester went on so I guess it worked out a bit. Needless to say, I didn’t sign up for anymore of his classes in the future.

            It is so wrong to take advantage of people and to try to embarrass them. We need more people who are willing to stand up and say “fuck off”, regardless of the penalties. Much of the time, if you don’t, things will only get worse. The people who get off from belittling others are some of the biggest cowards out there.