Almost inevitably, the students who earn the worst grades, miss the most class, and possess the least talents complain the loudest. No matter how good I may be, how hard I may try, or how well I synergize with students, inevitably one student or more take exception with me. Fortunately for me, I learned this early on when, while teaching in graduate school, I found a couple that tested my abilities, knowledge and expertise. I couldn't get through to them. I no longer expect to reach everyone. Usually, the first few weeks serve to weed out those unlikely to work well with me, but since I adopted an orphaned microbiology course, I inherited students who might otherwise leave if I started the term with them. One in particular apparently had nothing good to say about me, and I imagine, now that grades are posted and she did even more poorly than she anticipated, the slander and libel continues. I tell you this not to grouse but to broaden your mind to what it's like to work in academia.
She complained about emails. When I was a student, even though email existed, by and large we still actually met with our professors in person for any information dissemination. Since most student issues apply to more than one, I decided to wait until class to address it for everyone rather than answering 34 times to individuals. That plan failed for a different reason. I only received three emails from her during the entire semester. In the second, she asked for special, even preferential treatment, asking me to scan and email her copy of exam 2 so she could correct it. Everyone else came to class, and none of them asked for special treatment, and since I didn't realize I had actually met her the first night, I was disinclined to acquiesce to her request. The third one was belligerent and combative. IN it she opined the fact that I had drawn attention to her absentia. Well, it was not lost on anyone else in the class, her lab partner in particular, who was orphaned by this choice and had to be reassigned permanently to someone else. I would have never presumed to speak to one of my professors the way she vociferously attacked me. I also only saw her thrice during the entire term. In the third email, she fed me her sob story about why she was absent and complained that I hadn't answered 'all her other messages'. Well, I didn't answer because I didn't actually receive them. In all likelihood, she accidentally sent them to the other professor, but of course that's my fault. The whole point of meeting with a professor was to know firsthand from the primary source. The digital generation assumes that the messages arrive. Well, unless you ask for a return receipt, that's not necessarily true.
She complained about my lectures, delivery, and content. I am fairsure she picked the previous professor because he was easy. Several other students opined the change in study technique necessary to adapt to my teaching and assessment paradigm. What's even more interesting about her gripe was the fact that she wasn't even there to hear any except the first one. How could she possibly know what I discuss or validly complain that I "talk about himself too much" when she only heard me lecture once? She didn't attend ANY labs, and yet I found it perplexing when she emailed me lab writeups for classes where I know she was absent. Although attendance was no longer mandatory, I offered extra credit for attending, and so I have signature pages from her classmates on which her line is almost always blank. After each exam, where she was always the first one finished, she left the room never to return, even though we had a lab immediately antecedent to exam 3. Unless she obtained recordings of my lectures, she has nearly zero first hand knowledge of what I did or how while I was in class after that first night because she wasn't there.
She complained about hardships and expected special treatment. In that third email, she wrote a diatribe about her privations and reasons why she couldn't come to class. Well, I don't think I missed in any given class as many days as she actually attended, and although other people missed class, none of them tried to make excuses. She didn't seem to realize that classmates went through more difficult trials than she. Last semester, one young lady came to class after being in a car wreck, even to her own father's surprise. This term, one young lady arrived every day, albeit sometimes late, after driving 50 miles after work to come to class. One classmate discovered she had cancer; two lost loved ones; several were ill with the flu and other diseases; none of them whined and moaned like this one did. This particular woman decided since attendance wasn't mandatory that she wasn't going to make the effort to come unless it would guarantee her failure. In the past, I have given pop quizes to preclude this eventuality. In her case, she's lucky I didn't employ that tactic.
All too often I meet students who think far too highly of themselves. They all think they are special. I don't think anyone ever resisted her "charms" before. She's gotten away with thinking that she's special, probably because of her looks, that it came as quite a shock that it didn't work on me and that everyone scored better in the class than she. It's always worked for her to do anything besides actually do the work required by the course in order to succeed, and when I didn't validate her worth, she lashed out in a contumely because it must be someone else's fault. Blinded by unbroken success, however undeserved it may be, I think it came as quite a shock that she earned a grade far lower than she expected. I expect to be contacted by a Chair/Dean/Vice President to justify the grade, but unfortunately for her, I kept attendance logs, and I can show that she never came to class. She can't prove I got "all her emails", nor is it my fault or problem that she can't get to class. I was there, and I also had a crappy year. In the end, I don't think I could make her happy. If she earned an "A" she'd probably complain I was too easy or that it wasn't worth the money. She probably wanted a reason to complain, to blame, to project. Some people just aren't happy unless they have a gripe, a reason to whine, an excuse for any perceptible imperfection. I think this particular student would think I sucked no matter what I did. She doesn't want to succeed as much as she desires sympathy and attention; she must have terrible self esteem. You can't please all the people all of the time, and some people can't be pleased at all no matter what you do.
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