Originally Posted by Aeris Hilton (Post 4076296)

Me too
It adds character

Originally Posted by slunken (Post 4076300)

Charmbag - the instructor set a bad example from the get go. It probably wouldn't have been that bad had he/she not said anything first.

Originally Posted by noyen (Post 4076305)

now i feel like if i am going to stutter i just stop at that word and pretend i can't think of the word i'm trying to say so someone finishes the sentence for me. otherwise i'd stutttututututer like crazy if i attempted to get the word out. if i do manage to get the word out it is obvious to the person watching me speak because i have to stop and close my eyes and breathe in deep and then the word comes out like a final sigh.

Originally Posted by Charmbag (Post 4076242)

Yesterday was midterm critique for this design class I'm taking. I've been having a really hard time at school (nothing new, been happening since I was a kid) from anxiety sapping all my energy. So yeah I was barely able to get something together for these five midterm projects. I don't get social anxiety generally and normally have no problem speaking in front of others, in fact I wasn't even dreading my critique at all. But for some reason, as soon as it was my turn to present my work and I started talking, my lungs seized up and I couldn't breathe. So I'm standing in front of the class trying to talk, literally gasping for air and trying to get a grip and I'm pretty sure my voice started shaking too. I went 2nd to last at critique and all the other presentations had gone perfectly smooth and the crits were completely average, just the normal hey this works well, you could consider doing a couple things here, etc. After I finish trying to think of something to say about the stuff I'd made since my mind had gone completely blank, I got the most eviscerating critique probably anyone in the room had witnessed. First the teacher said that I was making no sense and that everyone had stopped listening to me speak and had disconnected. Then he took about 15 minutes of just him going over why my work was lazy, concepts poorly developed, badly executed, overall just "not working" for him, poor choice of frame, felt cheap or gimmicky, dumbed down, didn't communicate, it just went on and on . Then he asked each person in the class to share what they personally didn't like about my work and it went on like that some more. One girl said one of my projects looks like something her little sister would make in kindergarten. I didn't sleep the night before and before anyone started talking I was already obviously stressed so I'm pretty sure the fact that I wanted to cry (something I NEVER do in public) was obvious and everyone was super uncomfortable. By the time we moved on to the next crit I tried to just hang in there and not cry so I could stay in the room and not seem like a bad sport or anything. But my eyes started watering really bad and I'm pretty sure everyone noticed it. Finally got to go to the genderqueer bathroom and bawl my eyes out and then I cried for about 5 straight hours when I got home.

Originally Posted by Charmbag (Post 4076303)

I have to believe you're right.

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious (Post 4076390)

he is

to be honest the prof should apologize to you if he actually believes in your work, but he never will so just assume that he does

i actually think that other person who said the thing about kindergarten, she was taking aim at you deliberately because she probably already picked up on something when you criticized her before. i get the feeling that you didn't like her to begin with and to be frank if you're still posting here that means you're like the rest of us and don't realize some people are way faster on the uptake as far as social cues are concerned than we are. so, i think she probably already knew you didn't like her to begin with so she took this opportunity, endorsed and encouraged by the profs bad and unprofessional example, and tore into you.

next chance you get, savage her in the most impersonal manner possible. you should write the stuff you want to say down and make sure you boil it down to a completely detached devastation of everything she believes in. i know you can do that.