I was a first year college student. He was the instructor of my Mythology course at Winona State University in Minnesota. I loved the topic and received a "B" in the course. He made inappropriate references to sex, women's body parts, asked about our "wild weekends" in class, and frequently talked about the amount of partying he did. I didn't recognize how inappropriate he was at the time or how his behavior was affecting me. I had no idea that what he was doing in class was wrong - I just knew if felt gross.
I failed out of college in three short quarters - now I recognize the cumulative effect of his behavior, my philosophy professor's behavior, and a sexual assault I survived from a man I was dating was having on my ability to be a successful student.
After returning to college at the age of 31 years, I went through my papers from college the "first time" and discovered the depth of my Mythology professor's behaviors. On several papers he would make marks and add comments directly related to the content of the course and my writing. At the end of every paper he would add that he needed to meet with me in his office - or a threat that if I didn't come and see him soon, he wasn't sure I would pass the course. He made comments about my body, my eyes, my walk....etc. and talk about how much he was thinking about me. As a 31 year old re-reading the papers, I recognized what he was doing. As an 18 year old, I was uncomfortable but did not have the words to articulate why, nor did I know I could/should tell someone about his behavior.
So, I failed out of college and enrolled in a technical college to train to be a cosmetologist in Winona. Eleven months after enrolling I was licensed and started working in Winona. Approximately one year later I was working the desk of the salon I was employed and a man walked in asking if anyone was available for a haircut. The man was my former Mythology professor. He didn't recognize me - at first - but I knew him immediately and was completely terrified! I was the only stylist open and decided to do the cut. As we walked back to my chair he said, "Have you been working here long? I don't think I've seen you're pretty face here before." As I asked how he wanted his hair cut, I noted that he wasn't looking at my eyes, but rather my chest, and I immediately got pissed! I started the cut and he started to talk nastier to me. He told me about his sex life, his fantasies and asked me about mine. I kept quiet and stayed focused on my task at hand - to cut his hair as fast as I could and as short I possible without using clippers.
He had very thick, course red hair. I kept his face turned away from the mirror and cut! At the time I would take about 20 minutes to cut a man's short hair cut. This cut was less than 15 minutes. I did a quick check on my lines and turned him back to face the mirror while I grabbed my clippers to clean-up his neck. He said, "Jesus, what the hell did you do to my hair? I didn't tell you to cut it this short! I look like a fucking solider!!" I stood tall and looked at him directly in the eye (in the mirror) and said, "I didn't ask you to sexually harass me in your class - but you did. Lets consider this pay back."
He paid his bill and tipped me a bit higher than the average customer. My manager was at the cash register when he paid and she noticed the "tension" between us. She asked me if I was OK and I told her about the experience I had in his classroom. Her response, "Hell, I hope we never see him in here again." I said, "I'm pretty confident we won't!"
I worked at this salon for another 18 months and we didn't see him again. I lived in Winona 7 years after leaving college and this was the only time I crossed paths with the worst teacher I ever had. Lucky for him!!
I failed out of college in three short quarters - now I recognize the cumulative effect of his behavior, my philosophy professor's behavior, and a sexual assault I survived from a man I was dating was having on my ability to be a successful student.
After returning to college at the age of 31 years, I went through my papers from college the "first time" and discovered the depth of my Mythology professor's behaviors. On several papers he would make marks and add comments directly related to the content of the course and my writing. At the end of every paper he would add that he needed to meet with me in his office - or a threat that if I didn't come and see him soon, he wasn't sure I would pass the course. He made comments about my body, my eyes, my walk....etc. and talk about how much he was thinking about me. As a 31 year old re-reading the papers, I recognized what he was doing. As an 18 year old, I was uncomfortable but did not have the words to articulate why, nor did I know I could/should tell someone about his behavior.
So, I failed out of college and enrolled in a technical college to train to be a cosmetologist in Winona. Eleven months after enrolling I was licensed and started working in Winona. Approximately one year later I was working the desk of the salon I was employed and a man walked in asking if anyone was available for a haircut. The man was my former Mythology professor. He didn't recognize me - at first - but I knew him immediately and was completely terrified! I was the only stylist open and decided to do the cut. As we walked back to my chair he said, "Have you been working here long? I don't think I've seen you're pretty face here before." As I asked how he wanted his hair cut, I noted that he wasn't looking at my eyes, but rather my chest, and I immediately got pissed! I started the cut and he started to talk nastier to me. He told me about his sex life, his fantasies and asked me about mine. I kept quiet and stayed focused on my task at hand - to cut his hair as fast as I could and as short I possible without using clippers.
He had very thick, course red hair. I kept his face turned away from the mirror and cut! At the time I would take about 20 minutes to cut a man's short hair cut. This cut was less than 15 minutes. I did a quick check on my lines and turned him back to face the mirror while I grabbed my clippers to clean-up his neck. He said, "Jesus, what the hell did you do to my hair? I didn't tell you to cut it this short! I look like a fucking solider!!" I stood tall and looked at him directly in the eye (in the mirror) and said, "I didn't ask you to sexually harass me in your class - but you did. Lets consider this pay back."
He paid his bill and tipped me a bit higher than the average customer. My manager was at the cash register when he paid and she noticed the "tension" between us. She asked me if I was OK and I told her about the experience I had in his classroom. Her response, "Hell, I hope we never see him in here again." I said, "I'm pretty confident we won't!"
I worked at this salon for another 18 months and we didn't see him again. I lived in Winona 7 years after leaving college and this was the only time I crossed paths with the worst teacher I ever had. Lucky for him!!
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