My
experience of a good teacher vs. a bad teacher (part 2)
I’ve
encountered many teachers during my school years, some of them I liked, some of
them I didn’t care for too much, but I had two teachers during my high school
years who really made an impact on me. One of them was very positive, whereas
one of them managed to make my life in seventh grade a living hell.
This is
my experience with my bad teacher Herr Thiesgen:
Our high
school years in Germany range from 5th grade through 9th grade, sometimes even 10th
grade. I remained in my high school for two years, but after 6th
grade I was given the opportunity to transfer to a different high school with higher
requirements and an overall better reputation. In order to be accepted, I was
to take an exam at the end of the summer, two weeks before the new school year
would start. The final score would be the determining factor to decide whether
I could be accepted into this school or not. Although I really loved my high school and it
too had a good reputation, this was still a chance I did not want to miss, so I
decided that I was going to register for the exam. All summer long I studied
very hard, while all my friends would go swimming in the local lakes or go on
vacation with their parents. My mother and stepfather planned a two-week trip
to Austria and northern Italy that summer with my siblings. Although I really
wanted to go, I decided to stay with my grandparents and keep studying. A hard
decision to make for a 12-year old. As the end of summer was drawing near, I
became more and more anxious, despite all the preparation I had done. And then
the day of the exam had arrived. My mother drove me to the school, offering me
some words of encouragement. And so I
mustered up all my strength and took the five hour exam. Three days later my
mother received the phone call from the school, announcing that I had passed
the exam with a total score of 91% and was welcome to start attending “Leopold
von Daun Realschule” in the fall. When I heard the news, I thought I was going to
faint. I was so happy and proud of my accomplishments. But I also knew that I
was going to miss my old high school with all my teachers and my friends.
Little did I know then, how much I would really miss them.
I was
placed in classroom 7c and my homeroom teacher would be Herr Thiesgen, who
would also be my Math, PE-and Biology teacher. I was very nervous on my first day
of school. I was the new kid on the block, whereas everybody else in class
already knew each other, so things were a little awkward. And then Herr
Thiesgen walked in, and I will never forget that horrible first introduction. First
he glanced at me with an obvious disgusted look on his face, then had me come to
the front of the class so I could properly introduce myself to my new classmates,
as was custom in German schools at that time. Now one
thing you should know about me, even as a child I was always slightly corpulent
and not very athletic. I was never teased by my schoolmates for being chunkier,
maybe because I always just got along with everybody, always made others laugh,
never picked fights or judged anyone for who they were and always helped
friends out in need. But
instead, it was my new teacher who had something to say about my appearance.
And in front of the whole class! After my introduction, before I had the chance
to go sit back down at my desk, my teacher walked over and stood behind me,
resting both of his hands on my shoulders, (holding me in place was more like
it), and told the class:” This girl is the perfect example of why it is so
important that we watch our diet.” Then he turned me around to face him and
said to me:” Good god girl, if you were a cow on my brother’s farm, we’d
slaughter you for all that meat. Now go sit down.” I was absolutely mortified. I heard some of
the kids laugh, but I was much too embarrassed and too humiliated to make eye
contact with anyone and see who they were. Back at my desk, I was holding back
tears as best as I could, while I was still in disbelief of what had just
happened. And this is what I had sacrificed my summer for? I knew I was not
going to like this teacher.
It soon became very apparent of how prejudice Herr Thiesgen really was.
He absolutely hated overweighed, less than attractive and nonathletic students.
And since he was also our PE teacher, he would bestow his wrath upon the
overweighed and nonathletic the most during this class. Many students did not
like him, even feared him. Behind his back, students had many terrible
nicknames for him such as ‘the Nazi, or Sergeant’. One of the things we would
sometimes do during PE class was, we would do a 4 km run on a trail through the
woods, no matter the weather or season. For some it was the greatest thing
ever, to me it was pure torture. If you didn’t keep up, you would fall behind
and soon find yourself running alone through the woods. In the winter, these
woods were dark since there was no lighting whatsoever. In my case I always
fell behind, no matter how hard I tried. And I would be so scared. I was not a
runner. But by the time I’d reach the finish line, I would always be welcomed
by very harsh insults and sarcastic cheers from my teacher. As soon as he would
see me coming around the last corner, he would shout things such as:” Hurry up
you fat pig, if you don’t move that ass the big bad wolf will get you.” During his other classes, Herr Thiesgen would
constantly punish his students by making them do 10 – 20 push-ups in front of
class, amongst other things, while enduring a shower of his insults. But the
reasons for his “punishments” were ridiculous, if not sadistic. I once had to
do 15 push-ups in his biology class, because Herr Thiesgen had observed me
eating a granola bar, containing chocolate chips, which my mother had included
in my lunch. So as I was laboring over my push-ups, Herr Thiesgen would point
out to my classmates how disgusting I looked. This was without a doubt my worst year
in high school. I talked to the principal multiple times, even had a few other students
complain, but that had no effect. The principal just brushed us off, telling us
to “suck it up”. My mother even met with the principal herself, asking him to
place me in classroom 7a or 7b since I liked all my other teachers. But the
principal told her that he was not going to disrupt the class sizes or the
teacher’s routines over a small misunderstanding between a student and her
teacher. My mother was furious and I was hopeless. I had always been a great
student, but at this time I was failing all of Herr Thiesgen’s classes. I
couldn’t focus on his lessons anymore. I feared him. I feared the next act of
humiliation I was sure he had already planned for me. But I was not the only
one. Many students were so scared of him, they wouldn’t even go to the
principal, or tell their parents. Like my friend Inge. Inge was skinny, and
could run like a champ, but she was extremely tall, had very bad acne and wore
these glasses that were just too big for her face. Herr Thiesgen had nicknamed
her “Moose”, (Elch in German), and the name stuck.
I stayed
at Leopold von Daun Realschule for a little over a year before I decided to
transfer back to my old high school. I was literally a nervous wreck at that
point and had developed very low self esteem. It took me a while to find my way
back to my former self.
Months after I left
Leopold von Daun Realschule, I received the news that Herr Thiesgen was
suspended from teaching at the school until further notice. Apparently he was
under investigation, but nobody knew why. I found out much later that he was arrested
and charged for sexually molesting multiple students, including my friend and
former classmate Inge. But soon everything just got swept under the carpet to
save the name of a school with a good reputation.
I was
happy to be back with my old teachers and friends. I finished high school in peace and at the top
of my class. My experience with Herr Thiesgen had been a nightmare, but it also
taught me a lot. I guess the grass really isn’t greener on the other side after
all. I have no regrets. I look at all my life experiences as lessons, whether
they’re good or bad. In this case who knows? Maybe I was lucky enough to escape
a fate worse than what it ended up being. I’m glad I didn’t stick around to
find out.
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