School advise is needed, escapist.

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Hey guys! Most know me as Kerrigan from the other forums and today I am here seeking some deeply needed help in school. Highschool to be exact.

So I am in journalism 1 and apart of my school's newspaper. I draw the editorial cartoons and do some movie reviews, and this month I have a story on free comic book month, but that's not the point. It's with my teacher.

So in journalism, the class goes to compete in a big state wide tournament in April, it's a saturday. When my teacher asked if I was going to take the spot for the editorial cartoon, I said no, full knowing my saturdays all this month was going to be booked. I did say I would compete on a later competition, which she agreed to. I thought everything was figured out.

Until she later convinced me to do the saturday one. So I got roped into it. Then, my parents come to me and say I can't do it if it's on a certain day because they will be in california, I will be with my grandparents in chicago, AND I got a big convention i've had the tickets for forever on that date.

Turns out it was the same date as the journalism competition. So I can't go. Seems easy enough. Tell the teacher, she finds a replacement, seems easy.

But no. I tell her parents will be out of state, I will be out of county, I can't go. She gets pissed. I clearly tell her the date did not stick in my head and I didn't know the date until the day she told me, which was when I knew my parents would be gone the 26th. All I knew was that it was a saturday.

So she asks me to find a replacement. That's my issue. Why ask me? None of my friends will clearly want to do this, and the people I have asked have said no. I don't even know if they were lying to me or not. I need to go to school and tell her I couldn't find anyone. And I am shaking and having anxiety issues over this.

I need help escapist. What should I do? what do you suggest telling her? I would love the help. Thanks guys.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Firstly, that was a 'not cool, dude' moment from your teacher.

I've been roped into doing things for teachers/professors before and it's not fun. You've done your best to find a replacement, and no one can do it. Just tell her that you've asked every single person that would be interested in doing it, and they have prior engagements. There's really nothing more that you can do, and if your teacher gets pissy about it then that's on her.

She knew you couldn't do it, roped you in anyways, and got mad when you have to back out. Things happen, and things do come up. If you can't do it then you can't do it, and if she has a problem with that then there's not much else you can do about it, other than talking to someone if it really goes south from there.

If you just honestly tell her that no one can do it, and that you're sorry. Not that you did something wrong, but in the sense that nothing can be done and she's short a person. Does that make sense?

I hope all goes well. Hang in there!

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Firstly, that was a 'not cool, dude' moment from your teacher.

I've been roped into doing things for teachers/professors before and it's not fun. You've done your best to find a replacement, and no one can do it. Just tell her that you've asked every single person that would be interested in doing it, and they have prior engagements. There's really nothing more that you can do, and if your teacher gets pissy about it then that's on her.

She knew you couldn't do it, roped you in anyways, and got mad when you have to back out. Things happen, and things do come up. If you can't do it then you can't do it, and if she has a problem with that then there's not much else you can do about it, other than talking to someone if it really goes south from there.

If you just honestly tell her that no one can do it, and that you're sorry. Not that you did something wrong, but in the sense that nothing can be done and she's short a person. Does that make sense?

I hope all goes well. Hang in there!

Its your teacher's job to find the replacement, as they're the ones responsible for the activity. You can back out an hour before the thing, and its still your teacher's responsibility. Any way in which the teacher tries to shif blame onto you is just not cool. Not to mention that, according to the chronology of your post, you only found out why this date was unavilable after you said you were good for it. Any teacher who can't understand that a teenage student might get pressured into participating in something that they don't want to or cannot do, and by an authority figure no less, should not be a teacher.

Hey guys! Just wanted to thank you all for the advice. I may have a replacement lined up, and my talk with my teacher went well. Thanks again <3

 

[arsenalabu]

Probably not going to help, but I was stuck in a vaguely similar situation a few years ago with one of my teachers. Equivocation never came so easily to me as it did when dealing with her. While I can't give constructive advice for the situation, I can tell you that one of the sweetest memories I have is of leaving her laptop in a hotel where our competition was taking place. Small victories may not be of much consolation now, but in years to come nothing beats the recollection of having beat/embarassed/inflamed a teacher you hate while keeping your cool.
And have a pair of sunglasses with you when you present the replacement your teacher couldn't find - I'll always regret not having them on hand for my Horatio Caine moment. I hope you won't have to regret missing yours.