Just a thought

As I'm sitting here triffling through a folder of my old loose leaf microbiology/immunology notes from MERP and a memory comes across my mind. I once went into the micro professor's office to check my exam responses and she made a comment about how well I was doing in all of my courses. She then proceeded to ask me how I managed to get such good grades on the exams. Did I study all of the time? No, I told her, I'm just a good test taker.

Later on I called my mother and mentioned the encounter to her. I was shocked that she was upset that my professor asked me such a question. She is surprised, she said, because you are a black student and probably doesn't expect you to perform so well. You should have told her you are just smart and that it's in your genes.

Funny how we interpreted a simple comment in two totally different ways. I took it as an innocent inquiry into my study habits, my mother as a racists insult. I think that my mother's views have definitely affect my perception and interactions with other students.

Just a random thought/ memory I had to write down before I loose it forever.