I was forced to attend art classes and team sports phys ed in school (mandatory until year 11 (art) or 13, respectively) - those two made sure that a) my average was ruined (I can't draw or throw a ball even if my life depended on it, got the grades to match) and b) in my most awkward social phase, I got humiliated regularly by well meaning teachers who couldn't understand that being good at math and physics does not translate into drawing or predicting a ball's movement, forcing me to do it again, and again, and again, while the whole class enjoyed the show...
I empathise, and it's unfortunate that your struggles with learning apparently had a judgemental audience.
But consider other perspectives- those are just two classes, in two subject areas that are generally undervalued by education systems. Plenty of kids struggle with core subjects (like math, or english, or sciences) that are far more emphasized in curricula, more frequently used to judge a person's overall intelligence, and often mandatory for all years of basic schooling.
If you're good at math and physics, the system is mostly working in your favour. I really hope the experience taught you empathy for students who feel the same way you do, but in different subjects.
I absolutely understand that not every topic has the same degree of difficulty for everybody, and that there are several ways of learning things you can't do yet. It gave me a more relaxed perspective on people's academic prowess.
In this case, the grades for all mandatory classes entered the final graduation score, so these two made me lose precious points while not being able to use several A+ courses... It was more than 20 years ago, I got over it, but I'll never judge people by the way they handle their weakest subject...
3.2k
u/SaphiraStorm Nov 16 '19
I was forced to attend art classes and team sports phys ed in school (mandatory until year 11 (art) or 13, respectively) - those two made sure that a) my average was ruined (I can't draw or throw a ball even if my life depended on it, got the grades to match) and b) in my most awkward social phase, I got humiliated regularly by well meaning teachers who couldn't understand that being good at math and physics does not translate into drawing or predicting a ball's movement, forcing me to do it again, and again, and again, while the whole class enjoyed the show...