Hans is a student in my statistics class…. From the first day, Hans has been deliberately disruptive. As he clearly states on his university profile, one of his greatest joys is to challenge his professors. Ordinarily, this would be a great thing. However, when I use the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale as an example of an ordinal scale of measurement, I do not expect to be treated to a harangue about air temperature, wind speeds, and storm surge.
His disruptions stem from a need for attention above all else. Specifically, for my attention. He must sit in lecture devising ways to get it, because, judging from his midterm performance, he’s not concentrating on statistics….
I learned something else that stunned me. Hans is pre-med. He plans to specialize, not in one of those fields like pathology or radiology where actual contact with live, suffering human beings is minimized, but in psychiatry, the one where such contact is maximized.
Dear Sweet Jesus, please send Hans to me for a letter of recommendation to med school.
So writes the self-labeled Angry Professor.