As you all know I am currently a student, something I never imagined I would be again so late in life. Being a thirty-something year old student is quite different from when I was a student in my twenties. I have had to give up certain commodities like having a steady salary and affording expensive stuff. Thankfully Rune is being a very big support for me in this time of my life.
When I finished my first bachelor in tourism management, I was tired of studying. I was not very invested in my education, because basically I was never very passionate about tourism. I just felt like I had to study something and I didn't quite know what. I remember like it was yesterday that I thought all my subjects were either boring or difficult (especially the ones involving economy and accounting). A little background information: my relationship with mathematics deteriorated the minute my secondary school's new teacher stated at his job, also known as the first time I ever failed a subject. With his constant remarks about how bad I was at math, the level of confidence was below zero.
It took me three attempts to pass accounting at the university, and even then I was 0,3 points away from passing the subject. The teacher thought it was very silly that I would not get my degree over 0,3 points, so she told me she'd pass me if I promised to never study anything with numbers ever again. I said yes immediately! At this point I hated numbers and I was sick of being told by teachers that I sucked at it, too. So for me, no problem! No more math was just fine!
It took me three attempts to pass accounting at the university, and even then I was 0,3 points away from passing the subject. The teacher thought it was very silly that I would not get my degree over 0,3 points, so she told me she'd pass me if I promised to never study anything with numbers ever again. I said yes immediately! At this point I hated numbers and I was sick of being told by teachers that I sucked at it, too. So for me, no problem! No more math was just fine!
However in August this year I had to break that promise when I decided to study marketing management. Like I've said, I've made sacrifices to be able to study again and that is why I am taking school much more seriously than I did earlier in life. This first semester I've had a subject I was very nervous for, which is macroeconomics. Being told that I suck in math does not help very much when it comes to self-confidence.
But this time around it was different. I had a good teacher. He told us that he was aware many students struggle when it comes to economics, but he would make it so that we could find it easier to understand. And so he did. He never spoke to us like we were dummies, answered all our questions, and encouraged us to participate in class: "there are no silly questions". I went to all the classes and worked hard at home too. And you know what? I understood macroeconomics. So much that I got a B on my exam. (School characters in Norway go from A being the best to E being just enough to pass, and F is failed). I got a freaking B! Me, the girl who was told never to study economics or anything with numbers ever.
I guess it is simple to say that there are good and bad students, but you know what? There are good and bad teachers too.
Like I said, I was never too motivated, but that teacher made me feel like I was too dumb. Little did she know that I just didn't get good grades because I lacked motivation. She went ahead and assumed that I just wasn't good enough. Well, she wasn't good enough either. Just to make a point, the percentage of failure in that subject was quite high, which just comes to prove that maybe this teacher needs to blame the students less and reflect on her own teaching skills more. (Vero, you know exactly who this teacher is).
So this was the little reflection I wanted to share. Sometimes it's easy to let others tell you what you can or cannot do, and I was too dumb to let them convince me that I wasn't good enough. Well this B is for all those who have told me I am not good enough: go fuck yourselves 😀🖕
PS: Oh and by the way, little shoutout to my secondary school math teacher JP (for anonymity), another one who also told me I stank at math. First and second degree equations which you never managed to successfully teach me, my boyfriend taught me in under half an hour. And I know how to solve them now, too.
Just because they know math doesn't mean they know how to teach it to others. I accept my part of the blame (the lack of motivation and studying hours), but still it is never okay for an adult to tell a kid they stink at something! It is part of a teacher's job to engage and motivate their students, and some teachers are terrible at that. Motivation and self-confidence are essential to grant success at school. Teachers who tell kids they are not good enough are not good enough teachers! It's simple as that!
Rant over 😉
PS: Oh and by the way, little shoutout to my secondary school math teacher JP (for anonymity), another one who also told me I stank at math. First and second degree equations which you never managed to successfully teach me, my boyfriend taught me in under half an hour. And I know how to solve them now, too.
Just because they know math doesn't mean they know how to teach it to others. I accept my part of the blame (the lack of motivation and studying hours), but still it is never okay for an adult to tell a kid they stink at something! It is part of a teacher's job to engage and motivate their students, and some teachers are terrible at that. Motivation and self-confidence are essential to grant success at school. Teachers who tell kids they are not good enough are not good enough teachers! It's simple as that!
Rant over 😉
