musings on growing older

they say that as you grow older, you become wiser. this should be true for teachers or you don't have any business being one.
as you grow older, the age gap between you and your students increases. you start finding ways to bridge the gap only to realize that you may be able to narrow it some but the gap would always be there.
as you grow older, you become softer but there are times when you have to stand firm and not give in to emotions. the world will never run short of sad stories. you have to listen to some but you can't listen to them all.
as you grow older, your wants are trumped by your needs. you may want to stay up late but you need to wake up early for tomorrow's responsibilities.
as you grow older, you will realize that you have to take care of yourself because you do not own yourself anymore.
as you grow older, you will find out that while it's ok to be angry at times, it's not healthy to be angry all the time.
as you grow older, you have to realize that you share the world with other people. what you do to yourself or to others will in some way affect a part of your world.

there's a limit for considerations

When a student fails, he blames everything but himself. Foremost, he would blame his professor for "failing him". While I admit that there are inconsiderate professors, most are not. But how far can a professor go in giving considerations to students? There must be a limit to it.

Let us take the case of Student M. To pass, Student M needed to score 117 out of a possible 100 in the final exam and he knew this. He knew that whether or not he takes the final exam, he will still fail.

If I were in his shoes, this is what I would have done: I would have studied hard for the final exam like I'm gonna die if I didn't and aimed for a perfect 100 (Yes, it's possible). Come exam time, I would have used the full two hours alloted to answer all questions, check and recheck my answers, and write my answers in an organized way. Maybe if get a high score, my professor will take notice and may consider passing me. If not, then I will vow to do better so as not to land in the same predicament next term.

There is a high probability that student M played DOTA or FB or got drunk the night before the final exam. Come exam time, he used a quarter-hour to play "the-proctor-is-not-looking-please-give-me-the-answers" with his classmates. When nobody bothered to play with him, he used another quarter hour to answer (or pretend to answer) the questions. Student M got a score of 15/100. The 15 points are consideration/effort points.

Forward to the next day after I have posted the results of the final exam. Student M came to me and asked for his status. Our conversation went like this.

Student M: Sir, can I verify my grade?
Mr. J: Have you seen the posted exam results?
SM: Yes sir.
Mr. J: What's to verify? You already know what your status is. You failed.
SM: Sir, can I ask for a special project?
Mr. J: There is no such thing as a special project.
SM: But Sir, this is my second time to fail in your class.
Mr. J: And it's my fault?
SM: Sir, I may be kicked out.
Mr. J: And it's my fault?
SM: Sir, you can ask me to do anything. You can ask me for anything.
Mr. J: Do not go down that path. It would be offending.

FACTS: Student M has a penchant for coming to class late and he never passed a quiz. His final average is 47.77 (the passing average is 70.00).

Am I inconsiderate?