Voices of Giants

This will be a short one. I just need to vent a little I guess. Today was my first day of college with all academic classes with the intention of achieving an Associate's degree. I'm taking 16 hours worth of classes, three of which are attributed to an online class. What I really must do, if I'm going to maintain some sanity, is to get very organized. Also, I need to let go of my ego, especially in Speech 1010. I feel he will be a Severus Snape if I am not mistaken. Perhaps with time he will relax a little bit, but for right now he's somewhere in between this skit and this one. It was kind of abrasive, and he wasn't joking. We shall see how it all plays out.

Right now, my perspective is that insulting the intelligence of ones students and their aspirations is probably not the best way to inspire them to achieve greatness. Likewise, promising them they can all be wealthy business entrepreneurs if they just work "smart" enough, is equally belittling. Assuming they either work at McDonald's (his example) or own multiple cars and a yacht - and implying that one is "successful" and the other is not - is infuriating. How dare he? Just because he is financially stable or whatever and comes from California, doesn't mean he is justified in demeaning, shaming even, those who are not interested in the path he took and is taking. His haughty, dominating attitude was a huge turn off, and also made me sad for him. I imagine one must be pretty insecure to go through all the trouble of making himself seem so well off. Small people feel they must make other people feel small in order to make themselves look bigger, but that is certainly a falsehood. I am happy for him in his career and family, but he needs to take a chill pill. It's one thing to encourage someone to stretch and dream bigger, it's another thing to set unrealistic expectations and be patronizing to anyone who doesn't adhere to them.

I know I am walking on thin ice when I talk about this. I know I have a tendency to be high-minded and patronizing as well. That is something I work at being aware of and do my best to curb. But it really bugs  me to see someone in power and influence be dominating. In my experience, that attitude usually only creates conflict or disempowerment. The last thing he listed on his bio page was that he is a leader. Well, if that is the case, then he needs to look in the mirror. Leaders lead by example, by serving, and the best ones do that humbly. They don't waltz into your life and tell you all the wonderful things they are going to teach you. That's a really high bar he's setting for himself, and to poke at others for their humble expectations... it does not invoke positive feelings in me. I have virtually no respect for an authority figure who is mean and uses his or her position of power to promote their own status. In fact, it pisses me off. Perhaps that was his intention. Who knows. I must learn to manage my feelings about him though because he won't be the last of his kind in my life more than likely. Dealing with him will be the growing experience in a class where I've been taught about speaking and communicating my whole life. Now I get to practice patience, extend compassion to someone who probably really needs it, and trust that I will accomplish my goals even when I have a giant ego to work around (his, and mine).