I spent about eight hours this week preparing to lead class discussion on Michael Servetus' work Dialogues on The Trinity. When we were choosing topics at the beginning of the semester, I was pretty vocal about my desire to cover this particular topic. So, I was very pleased when none of the others who had considered him an option were as passionate about this particular reading.
I actually had fun preparing for the discussion. I did some additional reading, found a picture of a chimera to include on my outline, spent at least two hours preparing the outline and compiling additional notes to aid my presentation. This morning, I put the finishing touches on the outline and printed thirty copies to distribute to that class.
As the class began, I was bubbling with anticipation. Dr. Hendrix noted that one of my classmates was missing, but that didn't seem odd until she waltzed in with several obvious stacks of handouts. She usurped my presentation and Dr. Hendrix didn't even bat an eyelash. I don't even think he was aware that it wasn't her topic.
Anyway, I cry when I'm frustrated, so as this woman was doing her presentation (which wasn't as good as mine would have been!), I started tearing up. Mercifully, we had a break and I was able to slip out instead of bawling in the middle of my grad school class, but it was incredibly disappointing to not be able to share my work with the class since that's exactly what I should have been doing.
Fortunately, Jordan's class had been cancelled, so I had a shoulder to finish crying on. Have any of you ever experienced something like this? Tell me your stories of woe...
5 comments:
Oh that is so awful!
The closest I came to this was the time I did almost all the work on a group project and then was completely shut out of the presentation. The prof was under the impression that I had not done my part because I didn't do much in the class presentation.
Grrrrr..... I explained it to him, but I still don't think he believed me. And those ungrateful jerks who rode in on my coat-tails couldn't have cared less.
Will you get another chance to present your material???
Honestly, despite all the work I've already done, I would rather not present my material because so much of it would be redundant. I did take a different tack than the woman who already did her presentation, but how many times should one class have to sit through a discussion of the same 14 pages.
Argh! I groaned reading this.
Rotten.
Rotten.
Rotten.
If it is even the slightest balm, we're on your side.
Oh man, that sucks! Why didn't you say something? It sounds like it was all a horrible misunderstanding!
If it helps, I broke down in tears at work yesterday. The immediate cause was that I was trying to do the order, which I have only done once before, so am not overly comfortable doing yet, and all of the forms I could find were old order forms without the holiday cups on them. My poor manager didn't know what to do, but he let me take a ten-minute break, and then I asked him if he could do the order this time, and he did. Honestly, though, I'm just stressed right now and was probably just waiting for something to cry over.
Hmm... another missed opportunity story...
I auditioned for a play when I was in high school, at a proper theatre company where people pay real money for tickets. The director liked me, but was worried by my lack of experience. So she offered me an understudy role, which I stupidly turned down, thinking I would never actually get to perform. Well, the night I went to see the play, the understudy was performing, and she was terrible! I wanted to cry, although I believe I might have held the tears at bay until I got home.
Abigail and Jule Ann, it is always nice to know that someone sympathizes/empathizes.
It was, in fact, a giant misunderstanding, but I was far too shocked to say anything by the time the other started in on her presentation. I wrote my prof an email and he both emailed and called to express his regret. He's a nice man, I bear him no ill will. I wouldn't have been nearly so disappointed if I didn't enjoy the class so much.
I broke into tears at the law firm once. They let me leave work early because every time someone asked me if I was alright, I just started bawling again.
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