Here are some of the best — well, worst — professors:
1. This partier:
"I once had a professor show up to class drunk. It wasn’t very surprising, considering she talked a lot about drinking during class and once said, 'Why can’t we just have class at a bar?' when we got locked out of the classroom. I transferred after that semester."
2. This doubter:
"My whole life, all I ever wanted was to be an architect. I had one professor who would always berate me, say my designs were 'uninspired,' and that I'd never be a real architect. Well, Professor, I did become an architect, and I became the youngest architect to design a skyscraper in New York City at the age of 33."
3. This far-from-understanding professor:
"I was in community college and I showed up for one of my classes. I was early and genuinely, as I was walking into the room, I could feel myself getting sick, so I RAN to find the bathroom and barely made it there before I vomited for several minutes. I felt really woozy and awful and knew I was going to vomit again at some point, just not right then and there. So I went back to the classroom and told my teacher that I'd just gotten sick and was going home. She said 'Fine,' and I left. Once I got home, I remembered we'd had an assignment due that day, so I typed it up and emailed her saying I had the physical copy but forgot to turn it in. Unfortunately, when I asked my professor about it in person, she said she refused to accept that, and I should have remembered to turn it in while I was here anyway."
4. And this one, too:
"I was battling an illness and had to constantly undergo different testing. My history professor was particularly rude about me missing class to get a biopsy. I dealt with all of his comments and did everything I could to endure his class. Flash forward to the week before finals — I received a call from a family member saying that my cousin (who was like a brother to me) was murdered. I told my professor that I wouldn’t be able to take my final that week and asked for an extension. Not only did he not reply to my email, but when I came back to university to take my other finals, I learned that he ultimately decided to fail me because my cousin wasn’t an 'immediate family member.'"
—katm
5. This weird-analogy user:
"I once had a college instructor say, 'There are cannons and there are cannon fodders. Cannons are students who really shine and go far. Cannon fodders are students who are mediocre and burn up so cannons can shine. Most of you are cannon fodders.' WTF."
6. This crotchety crackpot:
"I had an organic chemistry professor who didn’t allow notes and would throw you out of class for coughing or sneezing or asking a question."
7. This professor, who was *chalk-full* of issues:
"I had a professor who really didn't want students to text during class, which I totally understand. However, one day he stopped talking mid-sentence and threw a piece of chalk at a girl who was texting!"
8. This stingy grader:
"I had a 93.7% in the class and worked so hard. The professor gave me an A-."
9. This cranky creep:
"I'm autistic. My degree required public speaking class. My adviser would send out an email before each of my classes started, and with this one, she said that if I had a favorite subject to talk about, I could focus on that. Professor started the first class by telling us some stuff about himself, including that he hated my favorite subject and graded a lot stricter for anyone who talked about it. He also mentioned that one of his students now works at Hooters and he likes to go visit her at work because...yeah. Never went back to that class."
10. This lazy lecturer:
"I took a History of Western Civilization course one summer, and the professor was so lazy that he just played UCLA professor Eugen Weber's video lectures on the subject. He would shut off the lights and leave the room during the entirety of the video, then come back and ask questions or give us a pop quiz. All I can say is that these videos are more effective at putting anyone to sleep than NyQuil!"
11. This trauma-inducing professor:
"I had a traumatic incident with a teacher where he told the class a scenario and to imagine stabbing me, and yelled 'Stab!' over and over again. Many years later, it still affects me. Reported it and nothing ever happened to him. He's still teaching to this day. Class laughed because he was the teacher. Completely abused his position."
12. This quack:
"I had a female teacher say that the #MeToo movement was a sham designed to keep the working class down."
13. This coldhearted instructor:
"After I spent a week taking care of my sister, she was hospitalized with severe pneumonia before my stats final. I obviously hadn't had a second to study and got back to campus at 2 a.m. The next day, I went to the professor's office hours to ask her if I could take the exam with the other people who skipped it, and she refused to hear me. She shouted at me to leave and 'skip the exam and see what happens.'"
14. This candy lover:
"I had a professor who more or less told the class that he could be bribed for better grades with candy. After he dropped many not-so-subtle hints about what he liked, some people actually brought it in for him. Favoritism was blatantly obvious from that point on."
15. This vicious teacher:
"The teacher called me up to do a math problem. I was struggling and trying my best, but she screamed at me that I was an idiot and that I suck at math. She said I wouldn't succeed in the future, then continued to bully me the rest of the year. I can gladly say, we left that school."
16. And lastly, no words for these types of professors:
"Sophomore year, my psychology professor said a death in the family wasn’t an excuse to miss an exam, and if I did, I couldn’t make up the exam."
I can't with them. All of them. If you've had a similar experience, let me know about it in the comments below!
Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.