Don't Count Anyone Out

Every semester since I started back to school, I have had a particular professor teaching at least one of my classes. Because I have seen him on a weekly basis for the past two years, I have gotten to know him fairly well, and have gotten used to his teaching style. He frustrates me greatly, mostly because he is HARD, and he does not stroke one's ego. My lowest grades have been in his classes. He doesn't hand out A's to anyone (in fact, students in his classes very rarely get A's at all). I have to admit though, that I have learned a lot from him, and work harder for his classes than most of the others, because I know that I have to earn my grade, rather than just receive it. He doesn't apologize in the slightest for his teaching style; in fact, he says his job is to toughen us up for grad school. I had a huge test in his class last night. It covered an enormous amount of information that I felt I would never be able to remember. It was tedious, confusing and just incredibly intricate, with very little room for differentiation that would make remembering everything easier. Going in to the exam, I honestly felt that I would fail it. I was a bit upset that my professor would expect us to remember such amounts of information, I just didn't feel that it was possible to do well in such a situation. It didn't seem fair. As class started, before he handed out our tests, the professor got up and read the academic integrity policy to the whole class. He then asked us to confirm that we understood it. After we nodded, he announced that we could use our books and notes on the exam. Wow! What an unexpected relief! You mean, this professor actually has a heart? He actually realized that it was too hard and gave us a way to do well. I was very pleasantly surprised. It just goes to show - people will surprise you, and you can't count anyone out.