When someone shows you who they are…believe them

A few weeks ago I went to what was to be the last course of my graduate studies career. I’ve been patiently and excitedly waiting to take this course for a couple of years. ‘Indigenous Settler Relations for Teachers’…how cool does that seem? Anyway, there were four of us, including the prof. Two of us were late. Class started at 5:30 and I got there around 5:45. The prof looked pissed. He didn’t address us. He talked to himself for a bit about not understanding what was going on and then started to pack up. Before the clock even hit 6:00 p.m. he told us he’d be here again next week at the same time and left.

We sat stunned. We three, seemed to have no value. Shortly after his departure, two other students arrived. Needless to say, we realized we might need to look into finding another class. As such, I checked out ‘Black Studies for Teachers’, and it was great. The professor emanated good vibes. For whatever the reason however, pure stubbornness, likely…I went back to the class I’d initially signed up for. I was trying to give the guy and the course a chance. Class was ok and the content was amazing, I was torn, but decided I’d stick to it.

The night before I had class however, I started to feel anxious. I knew class was coming up, and because he’d walked out on us after the first class we had to ‘catch up’ and had double the readings (which was A LOT). Not only that, he assigned an extra reflection for us to complete…there was no way I was going to get it all done. I was starting to panic. This is a guy who only alotted 5% for participation but expects you to be in every class and never late. So I knew he wasn’t going to be understanding of my inability to complete the task or readings, nor would he be too impressed that I needed to leave class early to attend ‘Reading Femmes Noires’ with Esi Edugyan at the AGO.

So, while standing around in the kitchen with my family, I was reminded by my loved ones… “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

On the last day to add and drop classes, I promptly emailed the registrar and officially switched courses. I went to my new class that same night. It was absolutely freezing out, it was late and I was exhausted…but underneath this hood and scarf, I was smiling. 😊

As a bonafide life long learner, I learned my lesson. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” What lessons have you learned lately?

Reflectively yours,

Tamla