Ability to Change

I am not good at making things change. We all know this. But desperation can be a powerful motivator, even to make changes. This semester, I knew things needed to change. My teacher assigned a ridiculously time-consuming assignment to do each week that served no apparent purpose. I felt myself getting more and more frustrated (I'm sure there was a significant relationship between my level of frustration and my lack of sleep) by the pointlessness of what we were being asked to do. My other classmates didn't like it much, but I seemed to be the most bothered. So if anything was going to be done about it...it was going to be done by me.

Last Friday evening, I sat down and composed an email to my professor. I worded it carefully so she would not think I was motivated by laziness or immaturity (and so I wouldn't sound rude), but basically, I asked her if she could explain the purpose of the assignment. I told her I was concerned because it took up the majority of my homework time, but I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of it that I'm not already getting from other assignments in the class.

My intentions were pure. If I'm going to spend that much time on something, I want to get a lot out of it, and I honestly believe that she did not realize how much time it took, nor had she considered that we were already doing other things that would accomplish what she wanted.

But still, despite my pure intentions, it was a little nerve-racking. I don't know her very well, so I wasn't certain that she wouldn't be angry; but it seemed to me that I was making a reasonable request, so a reasonable person would see that. My biggest fear is that after I stuck my neck out there, my other classmates would totally hang me out to dry and say, "Oh, we're FINE with the assignment! I don't know what Miss Berrie's complaining about! We think it's great!"

My worries were in vain. The next day I received a very nice email from my professor saying she appreciated my note, and she changed the assignment to make it more beneficial to us. I am incredibly proud of this outcome. I could've spent the entire semester fuming at the injustice of it all and left absolutely hating my experience. Now I look forward to spending a little more time learning, and a little less time crying.