ARGH some folks should never be allowed to teach!

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i'm in my last class at night school - i'm fixing to get my cert as a pharm tech later this summer. i also have an externship coming up (a large part of the decision to do formal training).
i've done pretty well, with mainly As and a couple of Bs.

now... i am in 'professionalism' class.

oh, joy.

we have a networking assignment on thursday, and this is quite literally ALL the instruction we have - and my NT classmates are pitching a fit:

- we meet up at usual class time - 6pm. this is for attendance purposes.
- we all go to the Franklin Mills Mall (which i've never been to before, but a classmate is happy to carpool and drive me there)
- we 'network' using the skills/assignments prior.
- essay to follow

network. at the mall. for a pharm tech career. at 6pm. i'm expected to walk up to people cold, strike up a conversation with them, feel my way towards making them a 'contact' --- getting their info, giving mine, my card, etc. the mall might have a pharmacy, but likely the pharmacy will be closed. so i am expected to meander up to random folks and make this happen.
let alone how noisy and over-stimulating malls are, and how much people in general scare the crap out of me.

and really. what benefits are there for my NT classmates? this assignment is great if we're training in sales or telemarketing. but cold-calling people in teh flesh and in complete artifice - that is, without it being casual - is not particularly beneficial to anyone, as far as i - or my nt friends and family members - can discern.

my nt classmates are freaking out, so you can just imagine how i am feeling. if i take anymore absences, i will fail. if i don't do the assignment, i will probably fail. i'm fairly certain i botched the midterm, because in many instances, more than one answer seemed perfectly appropirate but there were not 'all of the above' options.

i sent her a long email which carefully explains why this assignment as-is will not work. basically, the skills being taught in class are great in theory, but being recently diagnosed and of the hermit variety means that the odds i can implement any of this stuff on thursday is insane.
then i noticed someone posted about an aspie job fair in a few weeks, and i carefully explained why that should be my alternative assignment, as it will not require me to use skills that i cannot be expected to practice on thursday. it has the added benefit of interviewing with people who are already aware of my current shortcomings, but may be interested in accepting me based on skill with the other issues improving over time. it would also serve the 'networking' goal of the original assignment within a context, since i cannot do assignments that are not very structured.

i really hope she answers to reason, since this is a solution that prevents me from trying to out-and-out skip an assignment, while still showing that i am learning these things at a pace that is reasonable for my situation.

any thoughts/suggestions? because i only have about 36 hours to get this approved, or fight the teacher if she says no...

Am I correct in assuming that you are training to be a pharmacy dispensing technician?

I think that your alternative to this assignment is excellent. Let's hope the teacher agrees with you and allows you to go to the fair instead.

Kris

That assignment is horrid. I'm sorry but walking up to perfect strangers... I don't want one walking up to me to strike up conversation, I'd probably be rude and say "what do you want?" And honestly I don't think strangers nowadays are all that polite anyway. They are at the mall to shop, not stop and socialize. I hope she lets you do the alternative!

Yes that would be a little disturbing, it would be for almost anyone, you could get an Aspie like me to walk up to, I hate getting people trying to interview me, I would do my best to avoid or ignore, but I am that way with sales people too. If you have to do this assignment, fake it, interview a friend or family member, your still going to get a similar response to the questions.

i should add, i live in the philly area. it is NOT a friendly place. the only brotherly love happening is in the gay part of town.

ugh.
the teacher knew i sent an email and has not responded.
decided to get in touch with the dean of students before calling the teacher. bear in mind, i'm telling the dean not to do/say anything to the teacher until i know for sure my suggestion has been shot down. i still have to deal with her for a few more weeks and i don't want to piss her off unnecessarily.

but, since i wasn't sure what the last day of class was, i couldn't be sure that they would accept the idea because if it ends two days before the fair, it'd be easier for the teacher to resist. if it was the monday after, then i have another reason why this is a good alternative and it makes my argument stronger.

so i decided to call the school and ask what the final date of the current mod is. i never got a login/password, and any academic info on the site seems to only be accessible when logged in. if they even have it on there.

and this is my adventure, as explained to someone via aim.

(13:00:34) RampionRampage: my question, verbatim: "Hi. I am a night student at the center city location. Can you please tell me the date that my current mod ends?"
(13:04:05) RampionRampage: i called.
get put on hold. which i expected.
lady named janice answers. i ask my question.
she transfers me down to academics.
i ask my question.
she transfers me out.
i get put on hold.
"Hi, this is Janice. How can I help you?"
"Uh. Aren't you the same lady who just sent me down to academics?"
she takes my name. calls academics.
tells me that academics is now anticipating my call.
... i guess my question was too complicated.
aaaaand. goes straight to voicemail.
me, in my head [i didn't leave a message]: f**k this s**t.
hang up.
call the main location.
explain my question.
demand that they not connect me with the center city campus again.
transferred to a lady with an interesting island accent.
she gives me my info after two minutes because she had to check my records first (?!?!)
i get the info - it does end on the 23rd.
then i get the dean of student's phone number.

all in all. 15 minutes.
to find out what should be on every basic academic calendar.
(13:04:58) kyliekyleusa1: *rollseyes*
(13:05:01) RampionRampage: so when the dean asks why i didn't submit my AS info sooner, i can share this little anecdote and then ask, 'so what do you think would happen if i mentioned the word 'autism'?"

request denied.
reasoning: other people are missing class tonight for reasons that are 'probably as good as yours' and because she is not making further accommodations for them, she cannot for me.

and that she understands, but the assignment isn't as difficult as i think it is.

furthermore, if i miss another class, i will fail. but she can't guarantee that, if i show up for attendance, that i can be marked as 'present' if i don't go on the trip. supposedly she is looking into whether i can stay in another classroom.

bear in mind, one of my 'absences' was a transportation issue out of my control [trains by me stopped running for a few hours], but i did eventually show up. she even stated that night that she was glad i came, because it showed i really wanted to do well with the class, etc etc. but then 'forgot' to change it to me being present, and shut down the issue promptly.
so, for showing initiative, i still might as well have missed the class instead of sitting at a train station for over almost an hour and a half.

i'm half tempted to point out that if the other people who are getting zeros for the assignment have equally good reasons, then maybe she ought to let me know who they are so i can pass on the info to the dean and get them helped out as well.


i cried for a bit. but now i'm just pissed. and i'm not very pleasant when i'm angry. fortunately, this is not an aspie rage kind of thing. more of a, 'you're full of s**t and i'll be seeing at the dean's office, kthxbye'.