Rant with me now

If you're my friend on Facebook, you probably know I've had some issues with one of my professors over the last week.

It basically goes like this: Oct 6, have dental work done. Miss class. Oct 13, have more dental work done. Miss class. Oct 19, MIL passes away. Oct 19, e-mail professor to inform them of the situation and state that I will be missing class on Oct 20. Oct 20 was the day of our midterm, so naturally, I asked if alternate arrangements can be made.

And this is where it gets pretty cold and disgusting: Oct 20, professor e-mails me back and says that because I have "not shown committment to the course" by missing classes, will ONLY offer me a make-up for the midterm IF my attendance improves, and then sends me another e-mail an hour later, futher stating that I will need a certificate of death IF I qualify to take the midterm.

Of course, I'm totally shattered (literally sobbing over this, I kid you not) and, in the spirit of full disclosure, pissed RIGHT the fuck off. I contact the Ombudsperson at the College, who says I should contact my co-ordinator first to see if we can resolve this on our own, which I do, only to be told that because it's an English course, I need to speak with the co-ordinator of the English department because she only runs the Legal department. This was on Friday.

Today, I receive this heartless, pretty fucking generic message from the co-ordinator, stating that, as she understands it from my professor, I was unable to sit the midterm due to a family issue and that I have not shown commitment to the course due to many classes and assignments, or handed work in late.

My blood is BOILING by now. You could probably make fondue out of it (although I really wouldn't recommend it, but you get my point).

First off, I'm sorry, but really? A family issue? That's more like your kid coming down with a cold, NOT watching your mother in law's heart stop fucking beating right in front of you while you hold her hand and then seeing her lips turn blue and her face ashen THE DAY BEFORE.

I fired back an e-mail stating, quite calmly and logically (with supporting documentation!), why each of these "reasons" could not/should not be used as a basis for withholding a fucking midterm that I only missed because my MIL FUCKING DIED, YOU CUNT. It kind of went exactly like this:

Dear Shithead1; Thank you for your response to this matter. I'd like to clarify some issues within the e-mail you sent on Wednesday, October 28, particularly in regards to missed classes, work handed in late, and missed assignments.

Missed classes: I have missed 3 classes total. One was this past Tuesday (the date of the midterm) because of the death of my mother-in-law on Monday and the other two (October 6 and October 13) were because of dental work performed earlier that day. I can also provide documentation to this effect if need be. I fail to see how this constitutes "many".

Work handed in late: I handed in one (1) assignment late by a day - it was due Tuesday, October 13 (class missed due to aforementioned dental work) and I was present on Wednesday, October 14 during Shithead2's office hours to hand it in. On Blackboard, under the "course document" tools, she clearly outlines the late assignment policy, which states: "Late Assignment Policy: Please make careful consideration of the late assignment policy. One point will be subtracted from your assignment EVERY day that it is late.....".
I was aware of this policy and fully expected to be docked one mark for turning it in late. Nowhere does this policy say (and neither did Shithead2 mention in class) that invoking this policy would be basis for withholding a midterm.

Missed assignments: I have missed two assignments, both due on Tuesday, October 20, which I missed due to the death of my mother-in-law on Monday, October 19. One was assigned to complete in-class, and one was to be handed in at the start of class. I completed the assignment due on Tuesday, October 20 at the beginning of class and was told I could not hand it in when I returned back to class on Tuesday, October 27. In light of this, I'd like to draw your attention to College Directive E3: "Special Allowances for Individual Students".
Within this directive, it outlines special arrangements which can be made for students who "are ill or who face major personal crises such as bereavement," as stated in section 2.1 under Policy. It futher states within sections 2 and 2.1, under Procedures, Roles and Responsibilities: "wherever reasonable .... faculty are expected to extend to such students some latitude with respect to the following: 2.1 deadlines for submissions of assignments, lab reports, and similar projects." This directive was clearly not followed in this case.

As for the matter of being denied a fair opportunity to write the midterm due to the issues presented (which I only missed because of the sudden bereavement of my mother-in-law), I hope that I have outlined how each of these issues should not be used as reasons to withhold the midterm. In closing, I trust the matter of the midterm and missed assignments will be resolved satisfactorily. I will be contacting the Ombudsperson as to what the next steps would be.

Signed, ONE PISSED OFF ANGRY STUDENT.

And now I wait.

Apparently, its the hardest thing in the world to show some fucking compassion. Newsflash: I had to arrange two other midterms. Guess what happened? I explained the situation and they said, here's your alternate midterm date, see you then, good luck and sorry about your MIL.

What is SO FUCKING DIFFICULT about that? No. Really. Does this sound intensely difficult to any of you? Because if it does, I seem to be missing it.