The Heartless Reality of Higher Ed.

When I was 19 I started attending school. At the time, I had a roommate, Ray. We were really close, and at the time we decided we wanted to better our lives. You see, higher education is not free, and for people of my generation the costs are astronomical. To give an example, my bachelors degree cost me over $50,000 dollars. Ray, and I took the same classes. One of our first classes was a math class. When we started the class, our professor bluntly said "I am very hard, and there is no making up assignments, no matter how serious your problems are"

One morning Ray, and I were making breakfast. His phone started ringing, he ignored it. Then it rang again. He picked up the phone, and within minutes was in tears. He got some horrific news. His father had just committed suicide. He spent the week starting to deal with his fathers estate, and preparing the funeral. He obviously missed a week of his school work.

The following week, he was back in class. He asked me "Can I stay late and talk to the professor" Since we carpooled together he wanted some time to explain the situation. I'll never forget the moment when the professor said "Your dad dying is immaterial to your grade." To this day, I'll never forget that moment. Immaterial to your grade is the coldest reaction I've ever seen. I could never picture treating anyone with such dis-regard for a grieving.

14 years later, I assumed we'd be past this gross treatment of people, until my girlfriend decided to go to Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts. Her dream is simple, graduate, and become an X-Ray tech. Incase you don't know, Radiology programs are extremely competitive. All Radiology programs here are at capacity. They often only take a very few people from all the applicants. Keeping good grades is paramount to being accepted. She has a very rare health problem that doesn't usually affect her. However, this week she it got serious problem. I rushed her to the emergency room. The last time, she was in for 8 days. This time we were lucky, she only spent 1 day in the ER.

Today she emailed her professor paperwork showing where she was. Her email was simply asking if she could make up the missed work. Obviously, being rushed to the hospital, is not chosen by any person. She received a reply to her inquiry. "Regardless of the severity of personal health problems, the grading procedure will remain the same".

I am still shocked teachers treat students with such disregard for someones life. This is a person life, a persons future. We always talk about the American dream. What does it say about us, when that which we hold dear, still excludes people not born into ideal situations. From what I've seen, many educators regard students as only a name in a gradebook. We need to stand up, and force these institutions to change. We need to start gaining mutual respect for each other, and finally. We need to start helping those that when they cannot help themselves.