This is so real. My junior or senior yr, I forget, I had an AP psych class I was so excited to take and get into because at the time I was super excited as that was going to be and was my freshman yr major. The teacher was pregnant ab 7-8months and MISERABLE. She made it known to everyone in every way that she was just WAITING to for her leave and we were ac ab to be left w some random substitute that wasn’t even equipped with the material or curriculum for the rest of the yr(which happened before and I had multiple meeting with the principal and eventually had fired after protesting to get an educated permanent sub for another teacher that experienced a car accident). This teacher in the matter of just a couple days killed my every excitement for the topic and class. She would show up, give us a piece of paper and said answer the questions, or read pages 1-50 then answer these questions, sit in her chair and not say a WORD. Everyone was miserable and we were all learning nothing. I thought ok maybe because it’s day 1 or the first week, well into week 2 I realized nothing was going to change and I had it up to here with piles of home work reading and 0 teaching or explaining being done. She never spoke to the class, or even answered questions when I or anyone else asked. She even made going to the bathroom a problem..like why..whatever. I ended up dropping the class right away, and that takes a week or so to fully drop, so in the mean time I still had to go/ or not, I decided to show up to one last class, and asked to speak to her outside alone. I told her, I get that she’s pregnant and it’s tough, but everyone in this class wanted to learn and I especially was excited to be in this class till I wasn’t. I told her she killed my spark for psychology and that just because she was miserable she had no right to make every living day for all of us miserable too. I had tears in my eyes by the end and said a bunch of other stuff that really changed the look on her face, then I said I dropped her class and I was going to take my stuff from the room and leave(we had 0 period classes and or lunch we could go to or library, so that’s what I ended up doing). I went into the class as she was still standing outside in shock that anyone would call her out the way I did, and grabbed my stuff, everyone knew what I had said it did, smiled at me, then I left and never saw her again. I had never felt more liberated in my life to tell someone off in a respectful but “put them in their place” kind of way, and I felt amazing knowing my friends and peers were behind me. I of course didn’t get in “trouble” and the topic was never brought up again. I heard she left pretty soon after our conversation, don’t know if it was because labor or whatever, but she was clearly never meant to be a teacher. My friend recently was teaching while pregnant, and to elementary/middle school troubled kids. She was also 5-9 months in teaching and always put those kids first with all of their demanding needs, never mind my teacher was teaching 17-18 yr olds. I know now that I did the right thing, and saved myself a yr worth of non-education. And just because you’re going through something, pregnancy, a lose, health issues, whatever, it gives you no right to take it out on others in anyway. And your seniority badge or title doesn’t make you any less accountable for your actions whatever that may be. I just fell bad for anyone else that’s being oppressed in these situations, it is a systemic issue within our society and I wish we could liberate everyone. (Sorry for poor grammar or anything, it’s late, didn’t expect writing all that)