The professor who made you write your own grading criteria.
THE PROFESSOR WHO MADE YOU WRITE YOUR OWN GRADING CRITERIA.
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Remember that first day, that blend of anticipation and imposter syndrome? We walked into lecture halls, ready for the rigors. But one professor, one class, broke the mold. Instead of a detailed syllabus with clear rubrics, we were challenged: "For this course, you will write your own grading criteria."
A collective murmur rippled. Was this a trick? A test of critical thinking, or audacity? We were accustomed to excellence within defined parameters. This professor asked us to define our own excellence. It felt unsettling, radical even, for those wired to decode expectations rather than create them.
Yet, that initial discomfort slowly gave way to profound insight. It forced us to confront what true mastery looked like. What did we want to learn? What constituted genuine effort and understanding? How would we measure our growth? This wasn't about an easy A; it was about taking radical ownership of our education, articulating learning goals, and holding ourselves accountable to standards we helped shape.
That lesson echoes far beyond the seminar room. In boardrooms or ventures, how often have we faced scenarios with no predefined playbook? That professor, in their quiet brilliance, prepared us not just for a course, but for a life where we often write our own rules, define success, and trust our judgment. It was a masterclass in agency, a rebellion against passively receiving, a powerful affirmation of our capacity to define our own path.