When I walked into the class this morning, I saw a girl flipping frantically through the pages of a biochemistry textbook. She looked visibly frustrated as she tried to reconcile what she had on her notes with the content of the textbook.
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I chuckled and walked past with the conviction that she must be one Anatomy, Physiology or Food Science student who has joined the mantra of believing that "biochemistry is difficult!"
I sat down a few rows behind her and as I opened my books to read, she carried her note and
textbook and walked up to me.
It was my first time of meeting her, but because we are in a school community where almost everyone knows everyone, I wasn't surprised when she sat by my side and said 'please could you help me to explain this thing? You're a final year Biochemistry student right?'.
As I started explaining the concept of naming and drawing the structures of glycerophospholipids, her gestures made it obvious that everything I was saying sounded like rocket science to her.
This is what a glycerophospholipid looks like
As she struggled to make sense of the concepts I was explaining, for the first time, I really took my time to observe her face. She had giant pimples, puffy cheeks, darkened lips, and her makeup was a horror of its own class! Her dress sense, a tacky color blocking, adorned with the garish allure of cheap things. In fact, she looked so ugly! (I'm sorry).
I looked around quickly to make sure that no one else in that class knows me. I needed to make sure that non of my guys or girls was around.
I quickly flipped to a page in her textbook and said 'Oya read this place. It should explain the whole thing to you'. And with that, she stood up and walked back to her seat.
Inside me, I knew that she wasn't satisfied.
I knew that I didn't do enough for her.
I knew that she expected more.
I knew that she wouldn't understand even if she read that page a hundred times.
But I sent her away because I couldn't continue sitting with her "because she wasn't beautiful."
There is this common practice in my school where guys and girls "pair" or "bind" to study in class rooms, and I couldn't imagine been seen "binding" with that kind of girl. Hell no!
Just then, I started to wonder; why do we treat pretty people better than those that are not so pretty?
Must the way we relate with the opposite sex be determined by their physical appearance?
Why do I take Anita to the cafe to buy her food when she that says she's hungry, because she's a beautiful girl, but refuse to buy a bottle of water for Priscilla because she's not pretty?
I know that on a normal scenario, I wouldn't have let that girl walk away until I'm convinced that she has understood every single line I needed to teach her.
I also know that had it been she was a "beautiful girl", I would have not only taught her patiently;
I would have asked her to move all her books to my seat, so I can teach her very well and even watch her practice.
I felt so guilty
I realized that I'm not so cute, yet Christ died for me.
I realized that I can't even draw a grasshopper, yet I was calling another human created by God ugly.
I realized that beauty means more than just physical appearance.
I felt guilty; very guilty.
Is it just me, or has anyone else ever done this?
Have you ever treated someone badly because the person is not beautiful or handsome?
Do you think your reasons were worth the pain you caused that person?
Do you know that that singular act makes you a part of the great injustice in our world?
Maybe you need to make amends.
As for the girl, the guilt couldn't let me understand what I was reading. So I walked up to her, sat with her, and taught her from the introduction of the topic to the point where the lecturer stopped, and I didn't get up from that seat till she was able to draw the structure of those wacky-looking glycerophospholipids without looking at any textbook.
My name is Anwuacha Dandy Samuel, and this is my day in a bit.
This was a really revealing piece. It's great that you were able to realize your bias and correct your approach from there. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for dropping by
This is so true
We shouldn't act based on physical appearance
True. Thanks for your contribution
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I myself is not one of those students but I do also have this mantra that "biochemistry" or anything related in science and math is difficult.
All realizations are on point and hits the spot! Sometimes we focus more on the physical aspect and we are not able to see what is in store inside the things that never fade nor grow old. Thank you for sharing it.
It truly is. It's harder now, in the world social media centered people, to be able to realize that there's so much more than the physical appearance of a person. They can easily be rotten on the outside if they are inside. I'm so glad you had this realization!
All the love! xx
This is so true to life! Good looking people generally get treated better everywhere they go but that doesn’t mean we should treat the ‘less beautiful’ terribly. As you said, Christ died for EVERYONE. Really liked this post.
PS: I had my first degree in Biochemistry and yes, it is difficult 😂
But when you finally get it, it’s so amazing 😊
That is really brave of you to admit! I'm glad that you changed and want to treat people kind no matter what they look like
A beautiful story of making a realization.
i always look for a person's character and personality and not on their physical appearance. i am the type of person who never judges a book by its cover.