Dos and Don’ts of Dealing with a Mean Professor

According to the observations of students, even if you have 95% of great and caring professors, there should be one who absolutely hates you. And most of the time this feeling is mutual. What is more, we all know the consequences of such attitude – you get bad grades, you can be called out of the class for no apparent reason, and experience other signs of disrespect and rudeness. We’ve all been there before, dealing with that one professor who just absolutely hates you. Sometimes actions of such professors become so embarrassing that all you can experience towards them is hatred and hostility. I have experienced all of that and because of it, I want to warn you what you should and shouldn’t do dealing with a mean professor.

Top 3 Don’ts

• Don’t gossip behind your professor’s back. Even if his or her actions are intensively embarrassing you shouldn’t tell nasty things about that professor to your friends. Your comments will turn into rumors, rumors will be blown out of proportion, and most probably reach the ears of your professor. You don’t want the situation with your “favorite” professor to get even worse, or almost unbearable.
• Don’t shout at your professor. Don’t do this no matter the circumstances, even if your “dear” professor is humiliating you in front on the audience. If you shout back, you will show your weakness, but if you remain equanimous and mindful, you can show the audience how pathetic your professor really is. If you can’t bite your tongue, then instead of shouting you can ask this question with a calm voice: “Do you think this behavior is appropriate for a person of your title?” or “You show manners incompatible with the title of the professor”.
• Don’t do anything to make your professor hate you even more. Hostility feeds hostility and can never lead to reconciliation. Don’t come to the class later on purpose and don’t irritate your professor with different actions – this way you will only make the situation worse. Is that what you want? Probably you just want to have normal relationships with your professor, like most of us do. Remain calm, do whatever you can do not to make things worse, and hope that semester will end well.

Top 3 Do’s

• Do try to switch the class. Although it’s quite obvious, for some reason many students don’t consider it as a solution of their problem. In fact many educational intuitions allow students to try the class for a certain period of time and decide if it fits them. It’s a great opportunity to test the professor and see if you can get along with him or her.
• Do have a private conversation with your professor. If you see the problem and have an idea on how it can be addressed, go to your professor and talk about it. Sometimes it’s the best, peaceful solution of the situation.
• Do have a conversation with your academic advisor. In case talking to your professor hasn’t brought any results, you should go to your academic advisor and explain the problem. Getting another person involved in a situation which you can’t solve yourself is ideal.

I wish you to be an exception and finish college without meeting mean professors!