Student Rights

"O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbour. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes."

Something has come up several times this semester is the importance of students' rights in the classroom. For example, weekly assignments are given. At one point, the professor asks the students, "When do you want to turn in this set? I don't really care if you turn it in at all." Next class, the students say, "We would prefer not to turn in this problem set," and the professor responds, "OK, that's fine." Several weeks later (on a Wednesday), the professor says, "Oh, and you should turn in that problem set on Friday. I'm glad I finally remembered to say something!" Not right, definitely not right. Now the dilemma is that a professor is scheduling classes during reading period (aka the 3 days that NO CLASSES ARE HELD for students to prepare for final exams), and assigning a problem set to be due during that time, on the day that we are given our take home final exam. This is against university policy, as well as being unfair. In addition to the fact that I really don't have the time to spend on a problem set (usually 15-20 hours), this angers me on principle. I feel it's rather presumptuous for a professor to violate these policies, especially when it's apparent how much work we have done throughout the semester and how much there is left to do. However, it usually comes down to me (or one other student if I say enough) to say something. Everyone else just grumbles but goes along with it. I'm getting tired of always being the one to say something to the professor, and I'm aware that it could definitely have consequences as the professors can choose our grades however they want. Classes are graded on a curve, so I don't usually know what grade I'm getting despite my grades throughout the course, until the final grades are posted. This time, I asked another student to say something first, because I just didn't want to be the one getting penalized again.
On my walk home, though, I feel like I'm chickening out. Justice is important to me; it was instilled into me throughout my childhood. This quote kept running through my head:
"Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm thee." -Baha'u'llah
As well as,
"Beware, O people of Baha, lest the strong ones of the earth rob you of your strength, or they who rule the world fill you with fear. Put your trust in God and commit your affairs to His keeping." -Baha'u'llah

In this case, I immediately connected the "strong ones" and "they who rule the world" with professors. In seeing the classroom as the world in miniature, the professor is the strong one of the classroom. I realized that I was being a hypocrite, saying in words that justice was important, but not doing anything about it. I need to put my trust in God that my grade won't be unfairly lowered, and if it is then even that should not deter me. If people do not sacrifice for justice, then justice would rarely be had.

I wonder if I take these things too seriously. Several times, these kinds of situations happened to me in undergrad. I even took it to the dean of the department once, and yet nothing happened. I feel like I could make something happen here, but I don't know if I want to. I'll definitely go to the professor, but if he says no, I don't know if I want to bring out the force of the administration. It offends me when the professors presume that they can do whatever they want, and I hope that I will not be unjust in my classroom in the future. While I realize that deadlines are important, I think that they should be set with care and if strong objections are made, then there should be a consultation.

Part of my opposition is fatigue. I have worked harder this semester than any other semester, I know for a fact. I'm ready for the winter break, and in 15 days I will be done. I must summon the last bit of my strength and push to complete everything to best of my ability. That's all I can ask of myself. I think part of what I'm confronting is measuring my striving for excellence by the letter grade I receive, which actually represents competition rather than personal excellence.
"... the pursuit of excellence can be viewed as the vertical comparison of two different performances by the same person at two different times. If tomorrow I can play the violin better than I can today, then that is progress towards excellence. Whether, at any point in this vertical pursuit, I can play better than you is beside the point entirely. If i have great native ability, it may be that I can easily outperform you without my making any real progress towards personal perfection." -William S. Hatcher, Love, Power, and Justice
The section in this book on "Individualism and Competition" has been particularly striking to me this semester, in this regard. Measuring my success this semester based on my own increase in knowledge and ability, rather than on my grades compared to my fellow students.

Well, I really must stop philosophizing so that I can finish preparing for my oral exam tomorrow. Say a little prayer, or think good thoughts if you're not a person who prays, for me tomorrow morning to have the strength and courage to do the right thing.

Looking around

The 24th annual DC Baha'i Congress was quite an experience, as it always is. This one was much more music focused, which was neat. Among the performers were Martin Kerr, Andy Grammer, Devon Gundry, Dawnbreaker Collective, Benny Cassette, Kelsey Bulkin, Ali Youssefi, Eric Dozier and JB Eckl. I thoroughly enjoyed all the music, and came home the owner of 4 new CDs (Kelsey, Ali, Martin, and JB/Eric, as I already had Andy, Devon, and Dawnbreaker's), and I am currently addicted to Martin Kerr's new CD, I Know You're Out There. I love every song on this CD, and it's available on iTunes, so I would highly suggest it. I also have his Just Another Man CD (purchased at the DC Congress 3 years ago). If you're looking for just one or two songs to get an idea of his sound, look at either Undiscovered Geniuses (quite fun), Level With You (a neat song, also upbeat, about him falling in love with his now wife), Something More (jazzy/bluesy), or Breathing (slower, more reflective). Just Another Man is definitely one of my favorites from his first album.
I learned a lot about the conference, realized that my life over the past 2 years has been very different from that before. I like some of the differences, but I don't like some of the others and plan on changing those (and I even have the beginnings of a plan). This week begins the last 3 weeks of insanity to round out an insane semester. Between an oral final exam, a final presentation, a problem set, and two take home exams, I'm definitely going to be ready for my almost 6 week break from math (Dec 12 - Jan 21, thank goodness).
On a happy note, my previously dying shamrocks are now repotted and thriving! Both pots are growing happily, and that makes me feel like such a better plant mommy.
We had our first little bit of snow a couple weeks ago, but none since, and I'm really looking forward to the snowy season. However, I wouldn't mind dry roads to make the long drive back to SC next month. This winter break promises to be fun-, family-, and friend-filled.
Today was the Day of the Covenant, one of the 9 Holy Days of the Baha'i calendar. It also marks the day when the Regional Baha'i Council is elected by the members of the Local Spiritual Assembly members, so I must go get ready to fulfill the joyous responsibility of my service role!