Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Exams and Mental illness

Today, while I've been waiting outside the classroom for the students of a lower semester to finish writing (so that my colleagues and I could enter for our exam) I heard a strange voice, across the corridor. It was a man, about 30 years old, mentally ill. He was trying to sell some pictures of saints. He was knocking on office doors, trying to convince other students and teachers... Nothing. Then he entered the classroom and started moaning and talking. Pretty loud. Students where complaining but the teachers did nothing to deal with it. Then I decided to do the job myself. I entered the classroom, told him to follow me. He asked me only if I support a certain football team. I answered yes (I lied, but some times people deserve more than the truth...) then and only then he decided to follow me, and I closed the door behind us. I know it's nothing special, I didn't do anything brave or something to be proud of, but I did what I felt was right, to give the students time and let them focus on their exam. Normally the teachers should do that but... whatever.

No comments: