Going on a Guilt Trip...

My professor tried to guilt-trip me last night. I'm sure everyone who knows me is aware of how susceptible I am to guilt-trips from those in authority. But I'm holding my ground on this one. I might have to choose between enrolling for the second semester of a year-long class and scheduling enough time for the after-school program that IS my thesis project. Not much of a choice, is it? But when I told her I might not be able to continue the class, she got all huffy and upset. I thought that because she was a research methodology professor, she might understand how long it took me to set up this particular research site and why it wasn't really flexible, but apparently not.

Why is it so easy for people to make me feel so bad?

The problem with guilt is that it spreads. She gives me a start, and then I start feeling guilty about possibly saying something inappropriate to a classmate after class, and that I cut someone off on the subway platform, and that I've been remiss in keeping up on my homework and that I have some phone calls that I should have made yesterday but didn't. I have to staunch the flow or else the guilt spreads to other areas of my life.

I'm working hard on this one, though. I'm not going to let it get to me. Because when it comes down to a choice between a research site I've been negotiating with since July for my thesis and a three-credit class that I like but don't even need to graduate, I don't think I'm being unreasonable in letting her down.