cancer – day 372
Hmmmm, I only feel relieved and amused, and a tinge of guilt for not being upset. A student sent a complaint to my department chair today saying “I will never again agree to take any class given by Prof. Cynthia Miller. I refuse any classes with her. Total disaster of a class and prof. experience, on a great many levels.” Which, on the surface is insulting, but given the source of the statement I am only amused by it.
The student felt so strongly about the need to try to hurt and insult me that he took the extra time to forward his note to me so I would see what he said and who he sent it to. Good thing he doesn’t know what I know about what those people think of him.
You wouldn’t believe some of the nasty e-mails this guy sent to his teammates when they weren’t getting along at the beginning of the term. I was embarrassed for him, his communications to others were so debase and insulting. It degraded to the point that not only did I change the class teams around, but I let the troublesome jerk pick who would be on his team, in the hope that he would pick people he knows he can be at least civil to. And things went along ok for a couple of weeks. Then it was time for the midterm and the guy had excuse after excuse of why he couldn’t get to the University to take his exam at any point during the four weeks I gave them to do it in. He finally took the exam three weeks later than the rest of the class. One second he was thanking me profusely for my flexibility and the next he was complaining to the department head about how I was so insensitive to his needs (in my message to him saying we would be as flexible as necessary in scheduling his exam, I made the mistake of asking him why he couldn’t take it during the four weeks allowed, which insanely offended him, but I just had to ask). Then the end of the term comes, I have to enter zeros for all the assignments he didn’t turn in, I offer him to write an individual term paper to recover his lost points from not completing the work with his team, and he ignores my offer and sends this ridiculous note to the department head. I feel sorry for the guy. Maybe he could endure life a little easier with some psych meds.
And honestly, I am sooooo glad to have the term over with and to have finally finished eight straight nights of grading. And to be released of this jerk and his issues. It is really awful to have to repeatedly witness someone being so mean and, though doing everything in my power to ameliorate each situation this guy created so that at least the other students could learn and enjoy the class (which many of them have written me to say that they did, which is nice), there was no way to please him. Well, ok, maybe if I had given him As on the six assignments he didn’t do, so that he got an A or at least a B in the class, maybe he wouldn’t have written his “scathing” complaint, but, whatever. He got what he earned and I know I did everything I possibly could to help him. And oh, it feels sooooooo good to know it’s over. It’s like escaping from an abusive relationship.
BTW, if you work in govt look out, you may run into him some day. 😉