High school chemistry teacher tells a 16-year-old boy and his mother that he's ‘not smart,’ he gets satisfying revenge 14 years later when he bumps into her after graduating with his doctorate: ‘As fate would have it…’

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Jul 20, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

When it comes to teaching, helping your students get good grades it only part of the job. You need to also help cultivate a healthy environment that helps them build confidence and gives them all the tolls and strengths possible to survive out in the real world—because, let's be honest, high school is most definitely not the real world. Teachers know that you can't measure a fish's intelligence by how it climbs a tree, or a cheetah's intelligence by how it dances the tango. That just means, if your student is struggling at math, science, english, or whatever, that doesn't mean they are "stupid" or "dumb." It simply means those are not their strong suits, and they might be ahead of the curve in some other subject that makes their brain light up with dopamine! 

 

So if you have a teacher telling a student, especially a vulnerable hormone crazy teenager, that they're not smart enough, then that teacher should be fired. Period. 

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  • Long story short, this guy got called stupid by his 11th grade chemistry teacher. He used that to encourage himself to study even harder and now he's a doctor. He bumped into her and she begged him to help his daughter get into med school, and he, instead, gave her a taste of her own medicine. 

  • Naturally, her words stuck with me [and] motivated me for every academic challenge I faced...
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.
    (Doctor via Unsplash+  and Sasun Bughdaryan)

  • "I was just pretending to be smart so no need for my help."

    Forgot about this story until telling it to some old classmates earlier tonight and figured I'd share here. For context this happened just over 2 years ago. This starts way back in my Sophomore year of high school when I took AP Chemistry with Ms. M
    via ASaini91
  • That AP Chemistry class was unbelievably frustrating for me because of Ms. M. I'm not the smartest person but I'm a hard worker and because of that I know I'm a tactile learner and taking notes is important for me.
    via ASaini91
  • But Ms. M didn't like people taking notes while she talked. We had to copy down what she wrote on the board in 10 minutes before she would cover it and the rest of the class was her talking with us just listening. So I struggled big time and felt
    via ASaini91
  • like I was playing catch up all year For some important context- I went to a pretty competitive high school. A large chunk of the students were the kids of doctors, lawyers, engineers and pressure was ramped up on all of us.
    via ASaini91
  • because the parents competed with each other through the kids (thankfully not mine). For context, my graduating HS class was 756 (I'm competitive so that's seared into my brain). I graduated just inside the top 5% at the 34th spot in a class that had 18
    via ASaini91
  • valedictorians. My trip up were 2 B+s, 1 in each semester of AP Chemistry as a Sophomore. 2 of my closest friends were in that class with me (1 finished as a valedictorian and the other somewhere in the high 20s because he got 1 B+ at some point). Again, I know I'm
    via ASaini91
  • not as smart as most of them but I know I worked harder No matter how much effort I poured in I just couldn't get that A. My mom felt bad for me and arranged an after school meeting with me, her, and Ms. M so we could figure
    via ASaini91
  • out where my shortcomings are. Ms. M really didn't give much feedback and kept talking in circles. After enough probing to understand the vague things she said the words that seared into my brain, "You aren't smart.
    via ASaini91
  • You just pretend to be smart by hanging out with actually smart people like (insert my close friends here)." We were so shocked we just got up and left. I eventually learned my mom cried all of that night because I shouldn't have had to ever
    via ASaini91
  • hear those words from a teacher Thing about me is I've always been the "chip on my shoulder" motivation guy. Didn't make the tennis team and told I'm not good enough? Guess I'll train and bypass the JV
    via ASaini91
  • team and go straight to varsity. Think I'm too thin to play competitive basketball? I'll master my footwork and technique and show you weight doesn't matter. So naturally her words stuck with me and were my handwritten sign that I
    via ASaini91
  • Cheezburger Image 10530850560
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • would tape above my desk to motivate myself for every academic challenge I faced. Anyways, fast forward about 14 years. I've finished med school and am a doctor in the middle of my residency. I also like
    via ASaini91
  • to think I'm fairly well adjusted now (I dialed the competitive streak all the way down). I went back to my hometown to visit my parents and my mom asked me to pick up some stuff from the grocery store
    via ASaini91
  • As fate would have it, Ms. M was there and she recognized me (not hard, I look mostly the same just a little bit taller and less baby fat on the face). It's a tight community in that area so when she struck up conversation I was cordial. She asked what I
    via ASaini91
  • was up to and I gave her the career update. She got excited and began talking about how her daughter has been trying to get into med school but was rejected the past 2 application cycles. She proceeded to ask me if I know anyone from my old
    via ASaini91
  • school and can help the daughter get an interview I was stunned again. I couldn't believe the audacity to ask me for help. It already took so much out of me to not be ride when I saw her. I tried
    via ASaini91
  • to keep it together and just said "No." She was surprised and tried to convince me and was asking if her daughter could email me. I couldn't hold it back anymore and let it rip. I told Ms. M that her daughter would benefit from someone who
    via ASaini91
  • is actually intelligent, not someone who just hangs out with intelligent people and pretends to be smart. I still wasn't satisfied so I took one extra shot while she kept asking for help by questioning how smart her kid is if someone unintelligent like me got in
    via ASaini91
  • but she's struggling I told my mom when I got home. I think she was more proud of me in that moment than she was both when I got in and graduated med school
    via ASaini91
  • awkwardeagle My fourth grade teacher told my parents that she didn't think I'd amount to very much. I had just moved to the US a year before and was still in ESL. I'm now a physician. uck you Mrs. Glassberg you were a total itch.
    via awkwardeagle
  • MotherGo... My daughter's English teacher would not allow her to do English Literature when she entered senior high school (years 11 and 12 here). She said my daughter would not be able to cope with it so she wasn't allowed to even try. My daughter graduated high school, went to
    via MotherGoose1957
  • university, and got a degree in - you guessed it Literature. In fact, she - got a double degree in Literature and Photography. We made sure the news got back to the school and that teacher in particular. Daughter is now an author with eight books published. Teachers should never discourage students who are motivated to learn.
    via MotherGoose1957

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