This is a tricky position to exist in the middle row. , Photo Credit: Getty Images
MA lot has been said about backbenchers and frontbenchers. Backbenchers are notorious, yet steal the spotlight for being good at what they are: mischievous and humorous. After school life, they become poster boys or girls in teachers’ memory books, being the most mischievous yet lovable. Frontbenchers are Hermione types. They are clearly the teacher’s pet. They are studious and clever, they never take their eyes off the teacher or the board, they have an answer for everything, their right hand works to raise and write at the same time. Now, no one would believe that another type of student category actually exists. There is actually another that is somehow sandwiched between the frontbenchers and the backbenchers – the middle benchers.
Not famous, never in the limelight, not particularly talented or any less talented, rarely recognized. But they do exist, a whole bunch that often gets overshadowed and ignored for reasons that I am about to state as an experienced middle bencher myself. They are there, but not enough. Visible, but not fully visible. It is a complicated state of existence.
Let us imagine that as the teacher shoots out a question to the class, the active frontbencher’s hands will be in mid-air as if Hermione Granger is already answering. The backbencher would be yelled at by the angry teacher and amidst all this commotion, the middle bencher who knows the answer would be more puzzled in deciding whether to raise his left or right hand to attract the teacher’s attention. But by the time the middle bencher who knows the answer finally makes up his mind to muster up the courage to answer, the perplexed teacher is already left with completely articulate words to please someone in the front row. Must have got it.
Now let us suppose, the teacher decides to confront the middle bencher with a direct question. Well, that’s fast shooting! This time the middle bencher who knows the answer is taken aback, perplexed and ends up stammering what he knows very well. By then, the exhausted teacher assumes that the student in the middle bench doesn’t know the answer to her question, brushes it off, and passes the question to the next person.
Middle benchers are usually soft-spoken and so timid that they unknowingly get dropped from the list. They are misunderstood or I am sure many people are unaware of their existence. They can also be smart but too nervous to break the shell. I was a hardcore middle bencher during my school days. I’ve always found myself stuck, struggling to say the right words at the right time. Perhaps, a little nudge, maybe a gentle pat or even a little patience can do a lot in them. I missed many opportunities in school just because I was shy. While frontbenchers and backbenchers emphasize their agility and assertiveness, middle benchers take a back seat and go unnoticed.
This is because they have a very different set of energies that are misunderstood and can barely pass the usual vibe check. They are mistakenly believed to be boring and characterless, when in fact they are full of passion and have great taste for their burning interests in a more quiet and contemplative manner. It is a common myth to associate liveliness and leadership with socially extroverted or markedly extroverted individuals. The middle bencher or so called introvert does not need to be an ‘extrovert’ to be successful. It is in recognizing the innate strength and confidence that a middle bencher has, that he becomes empowered. It is important to draw a distinction in this universally accepted algorithm, where being extroverted and loud is synonymous with smartness while being quiet and soft-spoken is considered fragile. Middle benchers also deserve to feel ‘seen’ and ‘heard’. They have a more refined and composed way of expressing themselves. Teachers, in particular, need to be more empathetic in their approach to understanding these diverse personality types.
It’s also fun being a middle bencher because we get to see when the frontbencher hides a “bit paper” and when the backbencher actually does his own homework!
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