A Student Didn’t Trust His Chemistry Professor. Then She Started Talking About Motor Oil: ‘You Have Permission to Be You’
A student made assumptions about his chemistry professor, but they managed to find common ground through motor oil.
Negative first impressions can often shut a person off from getting to know someone better. Science communicator and chemistry professor Chemical Kim (@chemicalkim) shared her experience with a former student of hers. Despite having negative assumptions about her, the student eventually learned to trust in his professor’s expertise—all he needed to do was keep an open mind.
Kim told TikTok that she had a student two semesters ago. When the unnamed student walked into her class, he allegedly muttered how he was “going to hate” it. It wasn’t because chemistry was his least favorite subject. Rather, he wasn’t comfortable with his teacher’s short hair and her rainbow periodic table shoes. Despite the rough first impression, the student did not withdraw from the class or switch professors.
“After just two weeks, I noticed he purposely stayed back to be the last student to leave the class,” Kim observed. She said that when students did that, it was because they wanted to talk to her about something. When it was just the two of them, the student approached her and inquired why she knew so much about motor oil. She used the substance as an example for her lecture on viscosity.
She proved herself to be a good professor
Kim explained that outside of class, she liked doing mechanical work. Her student shared that he was a mechanic in the army. After this interaction, Kim said the student would end up staying behind to chat about chemistry and auto mechanics for the whole semester.
Kim gave him tips on brake fluid and how to improve the bleeding process, but the conversations didn’t stop with chemistry. The professor shared that she learned about her student’s family, his wife, his children, and his time in the army.
He would eventually pass her class and even asked Kim to be his reference since he wanted to pursue mechanical engineering. She agreed but asked him what he felt about class on the first day.
“He confessed that seeing a lesbian chemistry teacher, he wanted to walk out and get another professor. He assumed I wouldn’t be a good teacher, and I’d teach off a liberal agenda, not chemistry,” Kim said. She further claimed that her student wanted to switch classes. But since no other professors were available, he decided to stick around. Eventually, her student said that after the first few weeks of class, his opinion began shifting. He supposedly started to enjoy class, and he liked that he was learning chemistry.
“He also confessed that I’m the first gay woman he ever got to know, and he assumed that they all hate men, so he thought his grade would suffer,” Kim added. Nevertheless, she said her student apologized for buying into a stereotype before getting to know her.
People may assume someone else’s character, but their initial assumption can prevent them from seeing through someone’s true character. Another woman also shared how she was underestimated by her calculus professor, only to top her class by the end of the semester. Similarly, Kim’s identity did not affect her ability to teach chemistry, her expertise.
Self-expression is important for Kim
“Why should I have a haircut that pleases other people who only look at me a few times? Shouldn’t I have a haircut that pleases me?” Kim explained that people who don’t like her haircut would only have to look at her a few times. However, she has to face herself in the mirror every day.
She also addressed her choice to wear rainbow periodic table shoes. Kim believes that people should have the right to live as they see fit, and her shoes express just that. “These shoes say, ‘I see you. And you have permission to be you,'” she said. Everyone has a story to tell—their hair and shoes won’t even cover half of it.
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