Professor Justice's Secret Files

Not A Graduate From A Top University

I thought that after being accepted as an assistant professor in this university, I would only have to deal with the fact that I was young, new, and "inexperienced" compared to a lot of my seniors. I was prepared for that stereotype, though I had no plans of living up to it. The school had a lot of "progressive thinkers." They were "inclusive" and accepting of so many people. I can attest to this because even if they found my profile weird, they accepted me.

However, I found out that this did not mean that I would be free from other forms of bias or prejudice.

While I was in the faculty room, and while other professors were talking about me or what I did, there were those who wanted to check my profile again to see where I graduated from. While our Department Chair had no issues with my profile because it was her decision to accept me, she could not fight off other notions raised against me. I was left to deal with those notions.

As of this point, those professors never stayed in my class. Our faculty observation and evaluation were not due until the end of the semester. None of them bothered to observe me in class. Remember, they did not even ask me to do a teaching demo when they hired me. I only did it after a month. Two professors observed me and they were satisfied. But those who were questioning my style and credibility have not yet seen me in class.

This was why all they could do was to chitchat.

One professor from another department but was seated close to us, while the others were talking about the credibility and teaching methods learned from different schools, said: "Basta ako, hindi ako gumaraduate sa mga universities sa tabi-tabi lang." She was establishing the fact that since she graduated from top universities, she was credible. They would brag that they had professors who were popular and considered legends of their time. As of this point, I never had those.

Somewhere or some time when they were talking about the schools they graduated from, they wanted me to describe where I came from. I could see in their faces how proud they are for their educational background and experienced done here and abroad. As for me, I have not even experienced going abroad as of this point.

I could not forget that experience. This was why, around a year later, I had the chance of exploring the online courses offered by Harvard and University of California, Berkeley. This was done through the EDX platform. There was another platform available, which was called Coursera. But because of my limited funds, I could only afford for a verified certificate for the courses available in Harvard and UC Berkeley.

I kept my certificates there and made copies of them. They were so important to me. I promised myself it would not always be like this. I will make sure my students would still get quality education through my classes even if I am not like other professors who graduated from top universities and studied under legendary educators.