According to 2014 enrollment, U of T at that time had 84,556 students, i.e., "big ass" university (by enrollment :wink
But I digress.
Back when I was adjunct faculty at a large (but not as large as UT) central city university, I taught a required introductory course. I normally taught in the late afternoon/early evening, getting the working students. My class sizes though still averaged around 60-80 students in one of the smaller lecture halls. In this instance, it was the beginning of the fall semester, so I had a class of around 80 students. I was passing around the syllabus, sounding stern and formal (hey, first day--put the "fear of God" in 'em on that day then easy up as the course progresses). As I was talking I observed an attractive, causally dressed blonde right in the middle of the room (seats were auditorium style) with a slight smile on her face looking dead at me. Didn't think anything of it. I finished my first day schtick in about 40 mins., saying if there were any other questions, ask me after the class was dismissed.
Usually 5-6 students hang around with particular questions about the course. As I was standing there, I saw the attractive blonde off to my right. She walked up to me and said "hi" calling me by my first name. Naturally, I was taken aback, since everyone either addressed as Mr. (then my last name) or Professor. I gave a stern look and asked did she know me. She said, "you don't remember?" I said no. She stepped forward, and I took a slight step back. She said, "relax," and then whispered in my ear. I can only imagine what my face looked liked to the rest of the students. She had given me her stage name from a local strip club I frequent.
I told her to wait a minute while I talked to the other students. After they left, she said, "I told you I was going to school for nursing." Now I must readily admit that nearly every stripper/dancer/masseuse I had met always said they were "going to school" and that the job I met them at was to make ends meet. I also admit I had the usual skepticism when I was told this. Anyway, after the other students left, I spoke with her and told her she immediately had to drop my class. She looked befuddled and asked why. I said because of the nature of how I previously had met her would probably not set for a positive professor/student relationship. Wrong thing to say!!
She told me that she wasn't going to drop the class because it would screw up her other courses. She also informed me that she knew the difference from working at the strip club (a very HIGH end club) and going to school (and to her credit, she was professional and businesslike at the club). I said okay, and that was it. Talk about people having stereotypes. Throughout the course she was in the top 5% of the class, getting the highest grades on several quizzes and the highest grade on the final exam. She participated in lectures discussions, and was attuned and very sharp as to the subject matter. Her GPA was above a 3.5 (as an adjunct I had advisor status so I could pull up her entire academic record). I still went to the club, and we talked briefly, but dances were totally off limits (mutual agreement) while she was in my course. I lost track of her about a year later, but knew she had been admitted to the nursing school (a top 50 U.S. nursing program).
The moral of the story? Dump the stereotypes. The young lady was taking care of her business and doing what she needed to do. I was the one that needed to change my lens of how I saw the world.
