Back in June, I had mentioned some interactions with people in the past – people who, essentially, wanted me to fail. It’s unfortunate, but that’s just how some people are. You just have to accept that fact and deal with it.

Today, here’s a sequel. This can also be titled “Reason No. 3,252 Why I Don’t Like Teachers” – but the title above is fitting.

Anyway, here’s some background. This was some time ago. Knowing how passionate and dedicated I was in my classes, the director at the private college called me in for a meeting one afternoon.

She told me something along these lines: “Look, you’re amazing and you really care for our students – it’s obvious… I would like you to continue doing what you’re doing – but at the same time, I would like you to learn how to teach other courses so that you can be No. 2 behind [the principal, who’s also the No. 1 instructor in the school].”

The director mentioned that principal/No. 1 instructor – essentially the head teacher – by name, but for the purposes of this post I will not name any names, so that’s why I put that part in brackets.

Okay, I took her words to heart, and several days later I approached the principal/No. 1 instructor to inquire about one of the courses he was teaching. I explained the conversation I had with the director, and I expressed interest in knowing more about one particular course he was teaching.

His response? “Well, this reminds me of the time a former student thought that by watching eight hours of tennis, he was going to become a Wimbledon pro.”

All right – obviously, there was some lack of communication on the part of the director and the principal/No. 1 instructor. There was no professional development available at this college, but since the director told me, face to face, to learn how to teach additional courses – to be No. 2 behind the principal… who better to consult than the principal himself?

I mean, perhaps the two of them did not talk this over – but I wasn’t privy to the communications they had. That really was none of my business. I merely was trying to follow up because of what the director told me. I waited several days before approaching the principal. And hey, since his title was “principal,” you would think he would perform the responsibilities that came with that title?

Getting back to that conversation, I laughed it off and responded that he wasn’t really comparing me to a student he didn’t like, was he? I didn’t feel the analogy fit in that situation. I even offered to sit in and observe some of his classes if that might be better.

All he did was scoff and continue to be rude, refusing to take back his comment about the tennis-watching student. I mean, just another example of a fellow instructor not wanting to help out to make the college be more efficient.

…and an example of how people simply would rather you fail.