Standing up for others is no easy feat, which is why it’s not something a lot of people can do. Because many times, it would require you to put yourself in a position where you might not get anything out of it, and might even end up putting yourself at risk.
When you stand for someone, it could go both ways. It helps and they’re in a better position than before. Or it fails and you make things worse for them and yourself. This is one of the tactics bullies use that’s so effective and makes them wax stronger and stronger. They intimidate everyone and then actually attack only a few. And if anyone gets the bright idea to be a hero, they focus on them as well, nipping it in the bud. However, the moment one hero successfully challenges and defeats them, everyone else will see they can be beaten as well and the fear will simply drop like a stone in a lake.
This is another thing we suffer today, a lot of people find it hard to help out their neighbors in need. You could hear a child getting abused and you’d keep quiet because you feel it doesn’t concern you. After all, it’s not your child. You could see someone being wrongfully accused and you know that for a fact, but you’d say nothing because you don’t want to offend the actual culprit.
Doing good these days has turned into a thing of plus and minus. Before we can give a thirsty man a drink, we have to run a complex calculation of both calculus and indices to determine what we’ll benefit just by giving him a cup of water. If we like the odds, we give him. And if we don’t, well…
I’ve also had an opportunity to stand up for someone. This was during my second year in school, and it was a precarious moment because it involved a lecturer and any mess-up would have seen me getting a carry-over, which would have meant me getting another year and paying another school fee for it. But then, it was this same thing I was trying to avoid for one of my friends which could have blown up in my face.
My friend, let’s call him Jay, got into a fight with a course representative. It was something simple that could have been solved with a simple answer, but course reps being who they are (I have to talk about how annoying some of them can be one of these days), this one refused to answer. The lecturer had given an assignment that was required to be submitted with a serial number, and this number was given based on how each student paid for their textbooks. On a first come first serve basis. So the first person to pay for No 1, and so on…
Anyway, Jay had no idea what his serial number was, so he wanted to check the course rep’s list. The course rep refused, telling him not to disturb him. It was a simple case of bringing out the book and showing him, that’s all. But the guy wasn’t interested, he just focused on his phone and told Jay to come back the next day. As in, an ordinary course rep was feeling superior, and for what?
So, Jay got mad, and heated words were exchanged. They kept arguing until they were about to exchange blows before people separated them. Fighting in my school is illegal and would lead to suspension. It’s classified under cultist activities which is also grounds for expulsion.
It’s safe to say the day was ruined for both of them, and they both left school that day feeling terrible and angry. Jay managed to get his serial number somehow and then did his assignment. However, when the time came to submit it, the course rep refused to accept it. For no reason at all. It took the intervention of the entire class to force him to take it. Which he did. That seemed to be the end of the issue, for other assignments the lecturer gave, the course rep simply collected them as usual.
Things changed during the exam period though, when Jay’s name was one of the names listed by the lecturer as “owing”. This means Jay was one of those yet to submit his assignments and tests. This baffled Jay because he submitted every assignment and test, he had no idea why it said he was lacking. He questioned the course rep who told him to stop disturbing him.
The manner the course rep spoke to him made Jay realize he was behind it. He became really scared and didn’t know what to do. He was certain that all the assignments he submitted to the course rep were not given to the lecturer, and that was already an automatic failure. He tried to fix this, but every time he went to the lecturer’s office, he didn’t find him, and when he did see him, the lecturer simply told him to go and call the course rep who refused to come along.
All this was going on and I had no idea, he was keeping it all to himself. But at one point, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. When we were preparing for an exam to write that day, I noticed he wasn’t reading, which was odd. And when I questioned him about it, it was like a burst dam as he started telling me about how the course rep was trying to ruin him!
Thankfully, the lecturer was a friend of mine. I was a course rep to him back when we were in ND1 and we flowed well. I would have been his course rep again in ND2, but another lecturer snagged me before he came along and it’s a rule in our school that one student can’t represent more than one course.
As Jay was talking to me, he remembered that I was friends with the lecturer and begged me to intervene. I promised to do so after the exam we had for the day. I didn’t even know what I was going to do, because the number of assignments missed was more than three and that was a huge number!
After the exam, the lecturer wasn’t in the office because he was invigilating a class. So, I called him and went out to find him, with Jay in tow. We waited outside the class until he was done and then helped him carry the scripts and all his load to his office. All the while I was having small talk with him.
It wasn’t until we got to the office that I broached the subject with him. I told him everything I knew, and then Jay told him the full story. Starting from the fight and how the course rep was using it as an excuse to punish him. He swore he submitted all his tests and assignments, but none of them got to the lecturer. The lecturer then asked us to call the course rep. I called him myself this time, I simply told him to hurry over to the lecturer’s office because there was trouble!! Then I cut the call. I knew that if I told him the reason, he wouldn’t come.
My plan worked and the moment he walked into the office, he knew things were about to change. At first, he denied the allegations, but then, the lecturer kept questioning him and questioning him, making me wonder if he was an interrogator. The way he kept twisting his words and giving the course rep silent threats until the young man eventually broke and admitted that he kept Jay’s assignments at home. It was payback for the argument they had. If people had not separated them, Jay had been ready to beat him up that day and he needed to teach him a lesson.
The lecturer told him to bring the assignments at once, and he hurried home to get them. Can you imagine? He simply kept them at home, doing nothing. We waited at the office until he returned with the assignments and handed it over to the lecturer who promised us that he would look into it. And after that, we left.
Jay was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. The issue had messed up his mind and finally, it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He thanked me profusely and I was nodding my head and smiling like a goof even though the lecturer did most of the work.
The truth is, lecturer troubles are common for students, you may have one during your time in school. Sometimes, it’s not advisable to fight that battle yourself. You can ask your departmental executives for help, that’s why they’re there! You can ask your course advisor for help, they’re also lecturers who will help your case. You can even ask your coursemates who are close to the lecturer. All you need is someone who will soften them up for you, so they’ll judge your case with an open mind.
I’m glad I was able to be of help to Jay. I can still remember the amount of joy he had when he called to thank me during our one-year I.T. He passed the course. He would have failed it if not for me and he couldn’t stop thanking me. I told him I just did what I could. He was the one who kept fighting and kept fighting, and he made the lucky choice to tell me.
Some course reps are a different breed entirely, like this one. Some will even steal money from their fellow students, some will demand sorting in the name of a lecturer who doesn’t even sort… omo! The story is very long. So, I’ll stop here because I think I’ve gone far enough!!
