I could live with a B ... um ... sure

As most of you know, I am back in school chasing after a second Bachelor's degree. I already have a Master's. And, for those of you who don't know, grades really don't matter in the real world. Once you have some professional experience, hiring managers could not care less if you got a C in a class or an A. REALLY!!!

So, why do I give a rat's hind quarters if I got a B or an A in this stupid class that I am required to take by my university? Everyone has to take it. We all know how much fun those core courses are, right? Especially when they are taught by people who don't yet have their PhDs and want to inflate their egos by patronizing, what they think is, your lack of academic experience.

So, let's just say that my instructor and I have butted heads a few times this semester. She tried to 'mentor' me on a few assignments where she wasn't clear on her instructions by telling me that I would "find in (my) academic career" that my instructors typically wanted things the way that she did (even though she never clearly stated that she wanted something in a particular format). The first thing I did was point out to her that I am NOT new to this academic game, which caused her to back down somewhat.

Since then, she gave me a ZERO on an open-book quiz. I asked her why, and she basically pointed out that, though the questions were supposedly essay responses that were supposed to reflect our understanding of the materials in the chapter, I should look in the back of the text book for the answers she was after!!! She then reminded me that the quiz could be retaken up to three times. So, I retoook the quiz, copying the answers out of the book, word-for-work. Then, I sarcastically apologized to her in an email and stated that I now understood the lesson I was supposed to glean from the chapter, and had copied the answers out of the back of the book. She responded that that was what she wanted me to do.

WTF? The idea is not to absorb and assimilate the material, and make it your own. The lesson is to copy the exact wording out of the book for an essay question? Er, um ... yah.

I could have survived the zero. I already had an A- going into that quiz. With only 10% of the credits of this course left, I could blow the rest of it off and pass with at least a C+. However, I am just now wired that way. I like getting A's, even if no one other than me ever knows that I got them.

Sadly, I have to play the game this cluelss-witch wants me to play it in order to score my desired A.

The fun thing is, my son has had two instructors this year that were absolute clueless witches. I totally concurred with him on his assessment of their teaching styles and personalities. However, I commiserated with him that, while we both disrespected our instructors, we must play by their rules while playing on their playing field. He gets it. Sometimes I wish that I didn't.

One more week and I am done with this moron!