a girl just broke down crying in front of me
At the Student Center, amidst throngs of people. Her two friends consoled her.
Her test went poorly, apparently.
The next twenty minutes were spent tearily complaining about the test and the teacher and her other classes. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this.
People pay money to feel shitty, because feeling shitty is — via masochism (or is it machismo?) — is seen as a necessary consequence of doing something hard. This in turn does a tremendous disservice to the vigor of their relationship with learning.
Not that there’s anything new here.
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4 responses to 'a girl just broke down crying in front of me'
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did you say anything?
Nope. She was trying to hide her distress; I didn’t think intruding would improve the situation.
No one is forced to do anything here in America, she is there (college) by choice. Then again, the picture you are painting makes it seem as if the system is to blame; but who really is?
Maybe the girl was simply disappointed because she tried very hard.
Maybe she just got dumped by her boyfriend and the test just topped it all off.
Maybe she’s just super sensitive and she got a B.
I mean just because something is not easy does not mean it will cause you pain… People score well on tests and feel good all the time. People don’t do well on tests and go on living perfectly fine, it’s about self control and managing your own expectations in the end.
At least that’s my two cents.
“To blame” isn’t exactly what I mean. I would guess that her choice to be in college is not thought out very well. I’ll post again shortly; I’m actually going to figure out how to talk about blame and responsibility. Thanks!