Unfiltered Story #215211

( I am a woman currently studying computer science in university. Early on in my first year, I “befriended” a fellow female classmate. She seemed decent enough for the first few weeks, but it did not take long for her to start moaning about how our classes were “sooo hard”, and how it was unfair that our compulsory classes always had a male majority and male lecturers / professors.)

(With chill brothers and Asian parents who wanted me to do well in whatever I study, I never really quite “get” her point of view. However I do know that she was setting off quite a few red flags in my books, so I allowed my introverted self be and skipped out on her partying invites.)

(I was lucky enough to earn some male buddies when I asked them about our assignments. Their kind souls invited me to their friends and self-review study sessions. I learnt a bunch, and they were otherwise polite and understanding as long as I fully explained any issue I had with the codes I ran. It went both ways, though: I “compensated” them by giving them priority in buying the latest video games my brothers grinded through, with a “thanks for being my coding buddy” discount.)

(Fast forward to results day. For two out of four of the compulsory courses, getting a D and lower mandated the professor’s review sessions and re-tests. I floated through with a solid A- average. My female classmate went missing for the last few days of class, when all the professors reminded those affected to sign up for the reviews and re-tests to pick their preferred time-slots.)

(I was off in Singapore to visit my family for the summer right after, and my clumsy ass got my phone buzzing when i dropped it in a puddle. I only got it fixed a week later because the local repair shop – near enough for my dad to drive my license-less butt to – was closed for his own holiday. When I finally synced my messages in my new phone, I was bombarded by messages from my female classmate. She had tried messaging me with great desperation about whether I had to go for reviews like her. Apparently, my name was missing from the list of people shortlisted for review slots, emailed to all those who failed. She had even emailed the professors “on my behalf”, and sent me screenshots of the early morning remedials and late night class reviews she was forced into (in case I wanted to “sneak in”).)

(I guess she got the replies from the professors already, because one of the friendlier profs got back to me the next day of her email confirming that no, I did not have to come and he would kick me out if I tried to sneak in.)

(I’m still in Singapore, but my buddies have already dug up most of the older material for at least one of the compulsory modules we have to take. I’m even helping them code through. So I guess that your gender does not really affect your aptitude in the sciences, huh?)