my opinion Dr. Eldren,” said Collin as the time drew near to begin, “it will be good indeed to hear now from Donna, the other woman of our group. There might be an interesting comparison or contrast to Gilda’s experience. If you don’t mind my saying so.”
“Not at all,” replied Dr. Eldren. “If Donna is agreeable to that and I think she is, it will be an excellent next move. What do you say, Donna?”
“I’m willing, if you people can take it,” she responded, “but there will be quite a bit of contrast between my story and Gilda’s as we compare them. Basically though there will be likeness, I mean the same underlying problems.”
Dr. Eldren was enthusiastic again this evening. “Sounds like it will be plenty helpful to hear your story also,” he said.
Donna Coyne began to tell the story of her life as she had lived it thus far, and as she saw it now at twenty-eight years of age.
“I wasn’t so fortunate as Gilda,” she began “in that I didn’t have a vivid contrast between my grade five and grade six, that would teach me at so young an age one of the main lessons of life for people such as us. Surveying my school years,” she continued, “I see now that from the beginning I was greatly affected both favorably and adversely by my teachers. Many of my teachers I remember affectionately. The remembrance of others still brings a cloud over my life.
The earliest I remember now was in grade two where I had a teacher who put me down throughout the year. I am still not sure why, but it seems she was envious of me for some reason, so her attitude towards me was always negative. In her attitude towards the students of the class generally, I was always at the bottom of the ladder. It was an attitude only, and as in Gilda’s case, difficult to describe, but not impossible, I suppose. It was mostly her way of noticeably ignoring me while paying noticeable and friendly attention to the remainder of the class, sometimes some specific student in particular. I got through that class with only a minor sense of isolation, and no other particular harm done.
Throughout the remainder of my schooling there were similar experiences with teachers, and students. The students that were of the same type as the obnoxious teachers did me considerable harm over the years as did the teachers. Since these students had some teachers as their example in this regard it sort of gave them license to be down on me too. It also caused them to be more numerous. The students of that type did affect me considerably. This was partially offset by my living in the sphere of my own friends as much as possible. However, when I consider now the overall effect of the teachers who were obnoxious in their attitudes towards me, and they by their poor example, in turn, leading some students to be down on me, I believe they affected my life a great deal. The goodness, and the kindness, even the affection of the good teachers was not able to overcome it.”
Dr. Eldren interjected, “Donna, from Leo’s and Gilda’s stories we now have a good conception of what we mean by the attitudes of obnoxious teachers. Is your concept in that regard, the same as theirs.”
“Oh yes,” she replied, “exactly.”
“Perhaps then, Donna,” he added, “we can spare you the pain of relating in detail your experiences in school days. This will enable us to avoid being repetitious in relating experiences. If there are any further really different experiences, or outstanding events which would be of significance in making a particular point, we should hear these. Otherwise I think it would be sufficient now for you to describe to us the overall effect you believe your teachers had on you.”
Collin added, “and then perhaps we could hear from her, in more detail, her experiences out in the business world where she has worked for the past several years. These would be very revealing too, I am sure.”
“If you wish!” replied Dr. Eldren. “If it’s all right with Donna.”
Donna smiled. “Collin must be reading my mind.”
Leo was mildly ecstatic. “Collin is psychic,” he quipped.
“No, No,” replied Collin, “just experienced.”
“Can’t wait to hear your story,” came back Leo to Collin.
Donna then continued with her presentation. “I had only a semi-awareness of the social and psychological forces that influenced my life in its younger years. By younger I mean in this instance right up to the age of twenty one or twenty two; around that age, as well as I can place it now. I think I was in the realm of the majority in that regard. I find that most people do not really understand such things, even at a much older age. Some never do. Yet they get through life in various ways, depending on their personal makeup and other circumstances.
“Referring again to me personally, in retrospect this semi-awareness wasn’t sufficient for me to learn to maneuver my way through life. I just pressed on with perseverance, patience and firmness. I would say, I developed a high degree of stability, a stability that stood, regardless of the circumstances. I took what came, high marks or low, acceptance or rejection, affection or scolding, fair treatment or unfair, all in silent forbearance, always pressing on to do my best, regardless of circumstances. Needless to say, the burden of this influenced my life greatly, both favorably and adversely; favorably in that I became hardened considerably, with regard to my sensitivity to criticism or unfriendliness. I developed, and rightly so, I would say, a sense of confidence in my own character, and felt that generally I was a good, pleasant, and likeable person. I was well liked by the right kind of people, and this helped to somewhat offset the effects of the others.
“These others, however, did affect my mind-set and consequently my career. Even though I graduated from high school with very good grades, I had not the slightest inclination to go on to university. When I look back at that, I can now see that I was unconsciously steered away from it by the unpleasantness of academic life caused by the obnoxious characters, both teachers and students. It was a case of the obnoxious minority overshadowing a majority composed of both friendly and neutral people. For survival purposes I handled the circumstances of the time by becoming hardened. But I coped with the future in advance, by saying to myself, why go through more of this, when it doesn’t mean that much to me. As I look back now, that was my semi-conscious reaction at the time.”
“There was also another factor that had an equal influence on my steering away from a university education. It was family circumstances at the time. Up to a year before I graduated from high school, my father had been a car sales manager in an auto dealership. Then in the year previous to my graduation, the owner of the dealership retired from business. My father bought him out and became the new owner. It was a crucial time for my family, and although some financial help would have been forthcoming for me to continue my education, and in addition I could have earned some myself, I turned it down. I felt it would be an extra burden on my family, not only financially but in other ways as well. ‘Why put my family through all this?’ I thought, ‘just for me to have to take more of the basically unpleasant life I had through my school days.”
“Collin spoke. “Donna, may I for a moment, change the emphasis of the conversation from the influence circumstances had on your mindset, to the circumstances themselves in your final two years of school?”
“Well, yes,” Donna replied, questioningly, just what do you have in mind?”
Collin continued, “I have in mind the fact that in the year before you graduated from high school, your father became the owner of a car dealership in your home town. What I am curious to know is just what change of attitude took place towards you by teachers and students because of your father’s change in business status from employee to owner.”
“To my friends
