Today, I received the equivalent to a B- on an assignment. 

Yes, a B-. In English Language Studies, no less.

We were to translate a paragraph into English and then write a short essay on stylistic choices. This was a fairly simple task, as one would expect, and I had it finished and turned in before the end of the period. So you can easily imagine my shock and surprise – no, utter horror – when they were returned to us today with grades attached.

I spoke to the teacher after the class, politely and calmly requesting an explanation, and can you guess what she said?

She told me that she had requested a short essay and that mine was too verbose.  Apparently, I was not concise enough to meet the requirements of the assignment.

Sensei wanted me to be more succinct. As if that had ever been specified before. If she wanted a certain length, she should have assigned a word limit! 

Livid as I was, I found myself, for once, speechless. She offered the opportunity to redo the assignment, which I have agreed upon… but honestly… the nerve.

I suspect that the real problem here is that she didn’t want to have as much work to do. As if grading papers weren’t her job.

Today has been a very bad day. I don’t even have the heart to calculate the grade into the algorithm I wrote to determine how this will effect my percentage… Can I maintain my status at the top of the class at this rate?

Perhaps it’s time for tea.