Shamed and confused

Today I got my first major assignment handed back. The French grading scale goes from 0-20. They say 20 is perfect, 19 is for God, 18 is for the professor, 16-17 is for the suck up in the class, and anything between 10 and 15 is good. I’ve also been told that if you screw up on an assignment, the teacher will shamelessly mock you in front of the entire class. I thought to myself “Surely that’s an exaggeration. It can’t be that bad…”

It really is that bad.

I actually did really well on my assignment (Not “suck-up” level, but pretty well nonetheless) so fortunately, I was not the poor soul who was relentlessly tormented by the professor for the remainder of the class.  I was sitting beside him though, and she kept telling him that she only gave him a 9 because she “wanted to encourage him by not giving him a 2 on his first homework...but no more generosity the next time around. Maybe he should consider moving down to a lower level of French classes, since his skills weren't adequate to be in our group.” She also kept saying “since you don’t know what’s going on, talk to your neighbor, Kendall, because she gets it.” It was kind of awkward being singled out like that, but I’m glad I’m in her good graces because frankly, she terrifies me. I can’t remember the last time I was actually intimidated by a teacher, but something about her….yikes. Maybe it’s the single dread lock that pokes out sideways from her otherwise very short haircut. Maybe it’s because she’s loud and abrasive and likes to put people on the spot. I don’t do well put on the spot, so when she barks a question at someone and I’m the unlucky recipient I’m always flustered. If you don’t answer her question within about 5 seconds, she stares at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears (A Christmas Story reference in March!) and says “do you know what’s going on?”

 

Yes, I know what’s going on…for now. Let’s hope it stays that way!