News Flash: Poor People Go to College Too!

I don't know why so many professors have a misconception that everyone in college is middle class or higher, but it needs to change.  I've encountered so many ignorant professors who looked down upon me for needing to work a job while in school.  They say that I don't take my studies seriously because I can't devote all my waking hours studying, as if any students do.  Some have told me that I don't deserve to go to grad school because I'm academically lazy.  The funny thing is that so many students who don't work spend much of their extra time partying, something I had little desire to do.  I've had professors refuse to schedule a meeting with me or help me via email when their office hours are scheduled during my other classes or work.  How is this fair at all?  Should I be punished because I don't have mommy and daddy to pay for my education?

I'm not sure if these professors legitimately believe that there are no poor people in college or if they are somehow jaded from other experiences.  A certain post I made on the Chronicle of Higher Education forum regarding financial aid was met with a response that there are no real lower-class students in college.  The students who claim to be poor are just poor because they waste their money on food and expensive cars, in that person's example.  I was shocked that an educated person would resort to generalizing a whole group of students like that.  Perhaps some professors don't realize that college is a high-risk investment by those of the lower class.  They should realize that many of these people are more dedicated than wealthier students as we have potentially little to gain and everything to lose.

I don't mean to generalize; I've had some sympathetic professors.  But they were the minority for sure.  I found my humanities professors to generally be more understanding than their science equivalents.  I'm sure working students would like to keep their non-academic work a secret to be revealed only when necessary.  I hope that I won't have any of these unpleasant situations in graduate school where I am employed by the university.  All I ask is that professors ask themselves, "What if this student really does need to work to put food on his or her table?"