At the end of my middle school career, I took a few placement tests for fun, just to see where my smarts were at the time. I scored far higher than expected, even in Math -which shocked everyone--so I ended up in advanced courses heading into high school. By the time I reached my senior year, I was several credits ahead so I thought I would try my hand at Chemistry. At that time in life, Chemistry was an elective. It only took a week or two when I realized...
"Oh Merciful Jesus, how the hell do I get out of here?!"
I ran like I was on fire from a lab explosion. Formulas. Numbers. Chemicals. No thank you.
Redditor u/nonconformistnugget wanted to hear about the subjects in school that were not worth the effort or stress by asking... What's a red flag that screams "drop this class immediately"?
We all must have those handful of courses that ended up being more of a burden than a lesson. Every human brain is different, so the functioning is unique. We're not all meant to be a genius at all subjects. And there are so many classes we can't escape from. But when you can, you should. No shame.
I'm not doing your job!
professor Diogo GIF by Descomplica
Giphy
Professor starts off the first day with "I don't believe in teaching." Proceeds to explain that we should just teach ourselves advanced physics out of the textbook, and he has office hours if we really need it. Four people (myself included) had signed up for the class. I peaced out of there immediately.
How about a Magazine?
First day being asked to read a 300+ page novel by the next class. I'm sorry, I also have a job and 4 other classes, the world doesn't revolve around your class. I went straight to the registrar's office and dropped.
Déjà Vu
When the first day's intro is way over your head and includes concepts and terminology you've never heard of, and you look around and realize your classmates seem comfortable and familiar with what the professor is saying.
That's when I realized it was not the class for me. Happened to me twice.
Too Much at Once
Freshman me, first math class. The prof whips out a "The first few classes will be easy, so it's not really worth showing up the first month, but the school makes me do this as an introduction so here we go." Then he filled the entire 4 panel blackboard for a single exercise. I dropped out after a month.
Sometimes it's not the subject matter that is the issue. Sometimes it's all about the head of the class. Not everyone who becomes a teacher should be one. Being a teacher is a calling that requires patience, creativity, smarts, an agile game plan and just the plain old desire to want to educate. Certain "educators" need to realize when they should drop the class and find a higher purpose.
It's an "F" for You!
failing season 4 GIF
Giphy
The teacher being proud of having a low passing rate.
'not many people pass my class'
Maybe improve your teaching. Sure classes like organic chemistry will have lower passing rates bc it's memorizing a lot but come on, you want your students to understand your class. It's a teaching job, not a fail everyone you don't like job.
I Choose Option 3
"You'll be competing against one another for your grade," said in lower level classes.
Or
"This class will be done in all group projects."
The Replaced
Took a college course where the teacher printed a name tag for you on cardstock. Had to keep it in good condition the entire semester and got points taken off if it wasn't on display on your desk or if it became damaged. No replacements allowed.
Oh I had a version of this but we were allowed to make our own, so long as it was legible. So I at least got to frantically fold together the little toblerone shaped identifier before some classes with lab paper lol. (Yes it had to be shaped like that).
40% is too much...
"Look to your left, look to your right. Only one of you will pass this class."
I've seen this way too many times in this thread, which is a good indication of how common it actually is. My question is, what do teachers get by doing this? I had a prof like this once who just derived some sort of sadistic pleasure from knowing that she had failed 40% of her class and that they'd be stuck with her for another semester where she might have the chance to fail them again. Disgusting, honestly... why become a prof at all if all you're trying to do is play mind games?!
Learning is already difficult enough. Education, being a student, is a career. And at certain points in life you may be juggling more than one career to pay for your career as a student. That's a lot. So why do some schools and courses come with extra steps and hidden surprises? How do you make a class a requirement, but fashion it to be nearly impossible to conquer or even sign up?
Expectations
Microprocessors class. Online with no actual zoom sessions. Just email. Might as well be a self-paced instructorless course.
Resources include links to crappy or nonexistent YT videos, and a giant pdf of some outdated mind-numbing textbook, 80 pgs of assigned reading per week. Instructor has does not engage.
When asked for some alternative internet resources, says "any search engine will help you with that." Has "super high expectations" but then randomly gives you 100s or says that the assignment was secretly extra credit and doesn't matter anyway.
Also just looks like an absolute prick based off of his avatar.
Required Mess
excited book GIF by TikTok
Giphy
I was in college a long time ago, before you signed up for courses online and the burden was on the students to check out all the pre-requisites.
I signed up for what I thought would be an elective course to fulfill graduation requirements, only to find out that this course had two pre-requisites I had not completed.
The very first class was incredibly confusing. I dropped the class after checking the course catalog again.
Oh the Quizlet...
When the teacher is absent for half a freaking year then assign a crap ton of work and doesn't even teach. Then you come to find she takes all assignments from a quizlet so you 1, can cheat on all tests, and 2, you can just teach yourself and say thank you to the original quizlet owner bc they teach better than your crappy chem teacher.
Be a Grown Up
Professors who refuse to let students use the bathroom during class. Or just generally treating college students like they're children.
Listen, craphead. If I'm 22+ and paying to attend your lectures for my degree, I'm going to go pee when I need to. Get off your high horse, this isn't middle school where I need to ask for a hall pass.
It's All Too Much
Over It Drinking GIF by Saturday Night Live
Giphy
Tried really hard to get in limited seats in Japanese class.
Only because I loved learning new languages and cultures. 2 days in, anime guys started showing up and converted it into daily anime convention. The professor was easily overwhelmed. Dropped in less than a week.
With the amount of money higher education costs these people can't be serious. If there was ever proof that education, all education should be free. Hello... can I get a refund?
For Nothing
"None of your other courses matter - this is the most important course to you" yep sure prof.
My capstone/senior project class senior year, the prof said, "For the next sixteen weeks, you belong to me." It was valid, since it was my senior project that did require a ton of work, but I was just like... uh, sir, I have Many other commitments that also need my attention.
Can you explain?
Oh God years ago, I was taking a math course in college and multiple people had gone to admin because the prof had such a strong accent none of us could understand him, even after requests to repeat things and to slow down his speech. He was as frustrated as we were. Everyone failed as even the assignments weren't clear. At the tail end of the semester, they finally got an interpreter. We all passed because we'd been put in an impossible situation.
And you education is?
I had a professor that pretty much had his students do the work for him. We were put into groups, he gave us a list of topics and each class 2 groups would do a presentation.
That dude didn't teach one class himself.
Huh?
Confused Excuse Me GIF by GIPHY News
Giphy
I took an American folklore class taught by a Japanese prof with a THICK accent. I could have gotten used to the accent, but she was extremely soft spoken on top of it. It was an ASMR dream, but I couldn't hear shit. Quit after 3 classes.
No "A's" for you!
"I don't give out A's"
Attendance is mandatory.
Syllabus is a distant memory by the second class.
Your grade depends on anything outside your direct control (including - especially - other students).
And this might be a bit specific to CS, but if you've been working in the field professionally for years and the professor spends half the first lecture ranting against "industry hacks" that care more about "git 'er dun" than elegance and algorithmic efficiency... You're not going to have a good time.
These are the people who are suppose to be teaching us all hw to be professionals right? I'm not crazy. Am I? Maybe I should get a teaching position. Sounds like my daily life already. LOLOL
You're not at Home...
I had a professor who would come into the classroom 10 minutes before class started, take off his shoes, sit cross legged on a chair, and refuse to talk to any students before class started. He also was extremely condescending and wore hideous suits. He ran the class like a high school class, like you had to ask to go to the bathroom and stuff like that.
Worst part is, it was too late for me to drop that class by the time I spotted the red flags.
The Racket...
think phylicia rashad GIF
Giphy
Textbook is mandatory.
Textbook isn't available electronically.
Textbook is written by the prof.
Sometimes I think about enrolling in college again. Not as a full time student but I could just take a class here and there. Maybe stroll the quad in some fresh kicks, learn what the cool kids are jamming about nowadays. I could discuss philosophy or dissect the human brain in Psych 101. And at this age, I can legally--not ethically or morally--date my professors. But then I read chains like this and I realize... nah, that's why God invented Google.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
Giphy
"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
Giphy
"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.
While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.
Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.
Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.
For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.
Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:
"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"
The Tiny Issue Of Water...
"Absolutely not."
"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649
Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...
"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."
"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."
"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."
"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep
The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...
"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."
"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3
Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen
Giphy
What Do You Mean Allow?
"I have no choice."
"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412
"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show
Hug GIF by The BarkPost
Giphy
Who Needs An Alarm Clock?
"I let my two cats sleep with me."
"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."
"And so do I."
"We've all developed a lil routine."
"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_
Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
"Yes."
"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."
"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor
"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."
"Would not come out."
"Got some food and some water in dishes."
"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."
"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."
"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."
"She was too busy eating."
"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."
"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."
"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."
"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."
"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."
"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."
"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."
"She would not go."
"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."
"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588
sleepy kitten GIF
Giphy
Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...
"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."
"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."
"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle
Saying No Just Isn't An Option...
"'Let'."
"Lol."
"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren
Felines Only!
"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz
Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official
Giphy
Is That My Hair On That Pillow?
"My dog is perfect."
"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."
"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."
"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester
It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.
Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...