A battle ends

Every teacher has two main groups of enemies at work.

The first group of enemies is the administration. If you don't do a good job, they might fire you. If you just give all the students A's, they get mad at you. If you give all the students F's, they give you an F too. It's a very fine line you must walk to avoid getting eaten by the administration.

The second group of enemies is the students. If you try to make them learn too much, they will give you bad evaluations. If you don't make them come to class and they end up failing, they give you bad evaluations. If they work hard and still don't understand what's going on, they will do their best to replace you. The students may call you "sir" or "professor" or "sir professor sir," but their rhetoric is pure passive aggression.

Today was the last day of direct hand-to-hand combat. Only the final exam remains, for which my only role is to stand as a sentry. I am happier now.