Author Topic: Advice Needed - Student Dealing with Academic Harassment from Peers  (Read 4289 times)

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emceeoftheburg

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Hello,

I am a student studying performance production and concentrating in stage management at an all arts college, and I am just finishing up my sophomore year. The past two years have been a mixed bag of feelings towards college. I love my classes and my professors, and I've only excelled since being here. On the other hand, the few people in my department that I share most of my classes with have been nothing but verbally abusive, rude, and unprofessional towards me. It has reached a point were friends in the theatre department have approached me and said that my peers in my department are telling others not to let me work on their productions. The past two semesters have been a constant struggle, and dealing with this on a daily basis have just brought out my anxiety and depression.

In a professional setting, I would have no problem facing this head on, but coming at it as a student, I feel conflicted. When it comes to school, I have always been put in a position where I have to deal with being put down by my peers constantly, and I feel like this is just becoming a waste of time and money. I have already spent at least 70k on this school, and I don’t know if I should continue.

These are my options, and I would appreciate any advice and input that you all have.
1.   Continue attending my current college
2.   Drop out, work in the field in a local city back home
             a.   While doing this, possibly getting an online degree in another field   
                        as a backup, which would save me lots of money

Transferring is not really an option as of now. It’s too late to transfer for fall 2014, I don’t want to transfer mid-year, and I feel like it would be dumb to transfer right before my senior year.

Thank you all in advance for your insight and help,

Emcee
« Last Edit: Apr 27, 2014, 03:56 am by emceeoftheburg »

loebtmc

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Have you spoken with your professors about this? Being bullied is never ok, and their behavior needs to be adjusted.

But -  you say you have dealt with this a lot:

Quote
When it comes to school, I have always been put in a position where I have to deal with being put down by my peers constantly

Have you asked help/input from counselors or from good friends to explore your own part in this, what you might be doing to invite these kinds of interactions?

Sincerely wishing you good luck. This is a difficult place to be, one that requires stamina and willingness to learn a tough lesson - whether that lesson is dealing successfully with bullies or to stop attracting them. No matter which choices you make - leaving the school or staying - use this challenge as an opportunity to grow as an adult and as a human being.






emceeoftheburg

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I have recently been going to therapy to deal with my anxiety and depression from this. And I have always just been an easy target to many of my peers, because I put myself out there as mature and am easily a target for them to try to bring down.