Dual Instructors, Dual Lessons by Charles

Dual Instructors, Dual Lessons by Charles - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

This will be a different answer to the essay question posed. Why, you ask? It's because I have learned two separate lessons- one negative, the other positive- from two different instructors.

On the first day of Fall quarter 2015, I had an instructor refuse to accommodate my hearing disability (all I did was ask him to wear my Bluetooth microphone). Not only did he refuse to accommodate me, he also refused to provide a reason. Then, after asking “Why?” multiple times and getting no answer, he slandered me in front of the entire class, calling me “disrespectful” and “belligerent”. All that just for standing up for my right to equal access under the law!

In addition to the ADA complaint I am filing, I filed an “unprofessional conduct” complaint with the department. To-date, no one has held this instructor accountable. Come to find out, this instructor is on the Board of Regents at my university, and is apparently untouchable. This has not set well with me, and I am very angry.

The lesson learned? No matter how “right” you may be, people in positions of power can- and do- get away with quite a bit that others would be punished for, and that is a hard pill to swallow.

Winter quarter saw me in a class with an instructor who was the exact opposite. She was happy to comply with my accommodation request. In fact, she even asked several questions about how it worked.

The stress I was under dealing with the situation began to affect my coursework. One day after class, and on the verge of tears, I approached her and asked if the university had counselors to help me deal with the anger I felt (and still feel) regarding the unfairness of what was going on.

She was very kind and understanding, immediately took me to the appropriate office, and never judged me because I asked that of her. She felt, as I do, that the other instructor was out of line and should have accommodated my request, or at the very least provided a reason for his refusal. And, above all else, he certainly did not need to resort to name-calling.

The lesson learned here? Kindness. Pure and simple kindness. It makes a world of difference to those who are suffering, and gives hope that life will get better.

So, one negative lesson and one positive one. If there were a third lesson here, it would be that life is a balance of positive and negative, of good and bad, and we must remember that.