STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

ARRGGGGG! I just have to vent!! I'm going crazy, and I've only been in classes for a week.

I'm taking a Communications Technology class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My professor is also the department head of my major and the class. I missed the class on Tuesday because of a scheduling mix-up. Usually that's no big deal. I've done that once before and countless friends have made mistakes on the first day or two of classes. Professors have always been completely understanding and fine with it. So I email this professor and apologize, and I told him that I wanted to come to his office hours to get a syllabus and also discuss a medical problem with him.

So the next day, Wednesday, I miss one of my classes because I'm sick. Basically, I have digestive issues and sometimes I throw up all the time or have to run to the bathroom. It's not the most glamorous thing, but I'm trying to overcome it and do well this semester. However, I was terrified that I would get on the wrong side of this department head professor, so I dragged myself out of bed, put on jeans and a hoodie, and went to campus. I figured I could make it through a 10 minute meeting with a professor, and even if I got sick it wouldn't be the biggest deal because a bathroom is right down the hall.

There were two other girls in the hall with me waiting to meet him, and they seemed really nervous, though I couldn't figure out if it was because of the professor or not. Finally I get to go in, and I tell him that I missed class, I'm sorry, I emailed him, can I have a syllabus. He kind of just stares at me, I don't think he said anything, he kind of just looked at me and started to rifle around in his papers. He gave it to me, and then I said that I wanted to talk to him about a medical issue. I said that it shouldn't have a great impact on the class, but that I'm sick, I can get a doctor's note if he needs it, and that sometimes I'll have to run out. He never really said that was okay, all he said was that he hates when students run out on him. He just barely said anything, seemed quite rude and annoyed with me when he did. I tried to be nice and I left a little baffled.

Thursday, I went to his class and everything went fine. I didn't get sick, he didn't kill me, and he showed our class his website where we can find notes, etc. It didn't strike me as something I had to do right away, and figured I'd do it over the weekend while I was doing other homework.

Yesterday, Friday, I went to campus and went to my first class, but I felt so bad that I left campus right afterwards. So I again missed the same class that I missed on Wednesday. I had the syllabus and the email of a classmate, so I didn't email my professor directly. Just like she told me to. Last night I didn't go out because I didn't feel well, so I got an email from him. The only line was, "I noticed you didn't create a profile on my website. Any special reason why?"

So I quickly made a profile, and did an assignment that was up there with no due date mentioned. I also noticed that only about 5 of my classmates have made their profile yet. I emailed him back and told him that I made a profile and completed an assignment. Today he emails me and says that the other professor (the one whose class I missed twice) told him that I wasn't in class this week. And he asked me if I was "just skipping this semester". I emailed him back and reiterated the health issues I had discussed with him, and just said that I was dealing with the other class according to what the professor had said to me (i.e. emailing a classmate).

I am so frustrated! He has been nothing but rude and just plain mean. It's only been a week! I went to ratemyprofessors.com, where people can review professors they've had. The two people who reviewed him said that he was nice, so I thought that maybe I was just misinterpreting or caught him on bad days. That is, until he emailed me last night. I actually cried when I got this email from him today because no matter what I do or how pleasent and compliant I try to be, he doesn't like me and is out to get me. I wish you all could meet him so you know I'm not overreacting - he's so aggressive in everything that he does, in a way it's hard to articulate typing out.

It does NOT help that a big trigger of my suddnely getting sick is anxiety! I'm taking anti-anxiety medications and meeting with a psychiatrist. And I told my professor that it was a big trigger, but I think that made him think it's all in my head and believe me even less. It's not all in my head - I can get sick if I'm just sitting around watching TV. But when I get nervous or anxious it just triggers it - a lot of people get nauseated when they're anxious! So it just sends me over the edge into where I'm actually getting sick.

I'm so frustrated and I don't know what to do to show him that I'm not a bum student, and that I'm trying as best I can. It doesn't help that he's the department head - there's no one to turn to if he starts really discriminating against me!

-- Edited by ttara123 at 13:46, 2007-01-13