Today, I asked one of my teachers to write me a letter of recommendation for my top school. Even though I did fairly well in their class, I found out that they don't think that I'm very intelligent, but my "strong, work ethic" makes up for it. They mentioned it in the letter and submitted it. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Today, I asked about 30 students and 3 of my teachers to sign my yearbook. So far, only my math teacher agreed to write in it. He wrote, "You need to try harder next year." FML
Today, I got back the essay I wrote about how my country's education system is fucked. At one point, I made a spelling mistake. My teacher wrote a note about it, basically calling me illiterate, and telling me to pay attention in school instead of whining about it. She misspelled "school". FML
Today, I had my teacher look over my essay before turning it in. He said it was extremely well-written, so I handed it in. When I got it back, the feedback he left said it was one of the worst essays he'd ever read. FML
Today, in calculus, our substitute teacher told me I was smart. Everybody in the class, including my friends, burst out laughing. FML
Today, I got my grades back. I got a very poor evaluation for my lit class, which was odd because it didn't match the impression from my end-of-class meeting with the professor. It does, however, include a nod to the supposedly-anonymous negative class review I gave her, though. FML
Today, out of my whole class, I received no awards. All my teachers thought that I would get plenty from the others. Now people think I'm stupid. I have a 3.66 GPA and they won't believe me. FML
Today, someone in my class wrote, "Erase me if you can!" at the very top of the board, as I'm always tormented about how short I am compared to everyone else. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't reach it. I'm the teacher. FML
Today, I got my report card from school. I pulled my grade up in Algebra from a D to an A. My parents told me that they never expected me to accomplish this, and good job but they've already enrolled me in boarding school. So much for all that extra credit and staying late after school to study. FML
Today, my English professor bragged to my entire class about how good my essay was. He kept on saying great things about it for the duration of class. To my surprise, he'd given me a C-. When I asked why, his only response was: "I'm a hard grader." FML
Today, I asked my classmate to look over my essay. His comments were longer than the essay itself. FML
Feel like sharing it with the other FML users?
Thanks, your FML was submitted, and will appear in the moderation queue soon!
Top comments
Branessa9611 14
Use your "strong work ethic" to do exceptionally well in college and then come back 4 years later to take their job.
FlyingMangoes 5
Wait until after you've graduated and then tell them what you REALLY think about it. A dose of brutal honesty in return may be good for them.
Add a comment · Reply to
You must be logged in to be able to post comments!
Comments (36)
FlyingMangoes 5
Wait until after you've graduated and then tell them what you REALLY think about it. A dose of brutal honesty in return may be good for them.
Branessa9611 14
Use your "strong work ethic" to do exceptionally well in college and then come back 4 years later to take their job.
riahlum 12
Comment moderated for rule-breaking.
Y would u do exceptionally well to become a teacher..
Branessa9611 14
Gee, I don't know. Maybe because people going after teaching degrees have to work hard too?
chinaski7628 32
3, I spent 4 years of college and two years of grad school working hard to become a teacher. I constantly enroll in additional classes, seminars, and trainings so that I can continue to grow and be a better teacher. Most teachers work really hard to become (and continue) being teachers. It's a shame you don't recognize that.
evilplatypus 39
riahlum - so they can teach people like you the fine arts of grammar, spelling, rhetoric, and logic.
scyth3s 13
indeed, apparently #3 "neva hed any grammer intruckshun."
nesteremily 31
Always ask to read the letter before they send it
Ineedauniqueuser 7
I never hand reference letters directly back, I mail them myself. Also, know your references better.
chinaski7628 32
A lot of colleges (and scholarships) now have online recommendations for teachers to fill out and digitally attach letters of rec to. They do this so that people who are writing the letters can write honest feedback about a candidate. It also eliminates potential for tampering or forgery. In many cases, the student is unable to see what a teacher wrote even after it is submitted.
chosha_fml 27
You can still ask to see the letter before they send it.
Zombonic 14
Work ethic is more important than intelligence. You can have someone who's really intelligent but they don't do their work and fail because they didnt learn anything. With a good work ethic you can do damn near anything.
Branessa9611 14
Technically she can't get in trouble since the student asked for a reference letter. She can write what she wants at her own discretion. If she was outright saying the student was stupid and didn't do her work then she might be able to reprimanded for it, but that's about.
Ineedauniqueuser 7
Comment moderated for rule-breaking.
As a teacher I can promise this is actually a compliment. Smart only gets you to being a bossy know it all who rests on their laurels. In today's education system hard work is infinitely more important and will get you further. Often we see "smart" people who shut down when faced with a subject matter with which they aren't comfortable.
chinaski7628 32
As a teacher, you must realize that even if a student is hard working, if they are not capable of doing the work, or are unable to grasp the material being taught, hard work will do little for them. Also, you must realize that "smart" and "intelligent" are not the same thing. I have many students who do well in class, and I would even call them smart and hard working, but not intelligent. A student can easily learn facts, terms, and formulas, but lack the ability to properly contextualize, analyze, synthesize, or evaluate them. Colleges don't want people who will just keep plugging away at something even if things are difficult. They want students who are dynamic problem solvers, and who have the ability to build on and expand ideas.
chinaski7628 32
Um, 7, she has every right to write it, and it is definitely not rude to state your opinion when asked for it. OP asked for a letter. If I'm asked to write a letter of recommendation for a student (or anyone, really) for college, a job, or anything, I'm going to write an honest recommendation. It would be unethical to lie, especially if I'm attaching my word and my name to something. If I send a dishonest recommendation for someone, that could damage my recommendation, something I'm unwilling to do because I've worked hard to build that reputation. However, if I feel I'm unable to write a glowing, or even helpful, recommendation for a student, I will just politely decline to write it (which, perhaps, OP's teacher should have done).
PositiveX 4
Don't worry, colleges need hard work more than intelligence
suckceed 17
She gave you a compliment, she wasn't being mean or rude or trying to sabotage you. People with strong work ethic are exactly the type of people who do well at college and the ones who are a bit brighter, slack off and fail most of the time.
MrDespicable 4
That's not such a bad thing. Sometimes it's the other way around which is muche worse!