Nervous Student Ends Up In Tears When Criticized By Her Sister After A Performance In Front Of Their Beginner Voice Lessons Class

“We usually try to do it in a compliment sandwich: "compliment, constructive critiques, compliment."

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• November 15, 2022

How you were supported when you’re young plays a significant role in how confident you’ll be when you grow up. This is why it’s important to recognize the cheerleaders you have in life.

There’s a sense of contentment when you know that those cheerleaders are the closest people to you like friends and family. But what if it turns out that they don’t actually support you?

In a r/AITA post, a Redditor was confused if she was TA for not supporting her incredibly shy sister. She narrated that they were taking the same voice lessons at a community college. 

Her sister was the youngest in the class and so others tend to take care of her more. Especially their mom’s friend’s daughter, Anna, who also drives her to and from class. 

After lessons were only taught virtually, it was time for them to perform in person. Anna went around and asked everyone to applaud OP’s sister no matter how well they’ll do since she was very nervous. 

At the end of the performance, everyone clapped except OP. She also made comments that drove her sister to cry.

Anna said a few words to OP about her comments and when she came home, her mom yelled at her for making her sister cry for a half hour. OP doesn’t think she was wrong but with how she was confronted, she was left wondering if she was TA.

This is OP's problem

OP and her sister have been taking the same voice lessons and usually her sister is babied by the other older students

Anna is the one who usually takes care of her sister during these classes

OP's sister was super nervous when the day of the performance came

OP was confronted about her criticisms

Her mom also scolded her about how she made her sister cry

As a theatre teacher on a college level, honoring a person’s work is really important

There might be different rules regarding feedback, but it felt like it was more than that

In other situations, only the teachers are allowed to give critiques

It is better if the critiques were said privately just in case the performer doesn’t take it well

This Redditor shared that their art class is different but that might be because OP’s class is for beginners

OP’s comments might be fueled by more than her not liking her sister’s performance

OP didn’t say anything more about their family but there are doubts if she wanted people to know that they are related

Not dragging someone after a nerve-wracking performance or a beginner’s performance is common knowledge

What OP did could have disregarded the true purpose of their class

Compliment sandwich

OP was regarded as TA in this situation. It was because the way she gave out her critique wasn’t appropriate according to most people in the comments. 

There were also theories that OP was driven by different motives, that’s why she went with telling her sister what she thought at the time and place that she did. Other Redditors encouraged her to cherish her time with her sister instead of being resentful about it. 

Chelsi