Avoid granting yourself the status of the victim

I could only imagine that this class is more discussion oriented and less lecture focused. This could be very tough for students from a different culture background.

The student tried very hard to do the right thing and follow the right rules, such as raising hands at class, going to writing labs, visiting office hours.

What bothers me is that he might be too obedient. He should have debated with the professor about the meaning of “Office Hour”, what is the point of having an Office Hour and you have to make an appointment.  

The student also assumes too much.  The professor's harsh grading of his paper may just be just that, too harsh.  It is also possible that the writing lab personel did a very poor job in correcting.  It is a possibility.

The point is, when the student realized the bad chemistry from the very beginning, he should have dropped this class.