Nazi Drill Sergeant

My Maternity Instructor was a Nazi Drill Sergeant. The Teacher from Hell. The Devil Incarnate. (And she was in Maternity? Babies and Nursing Mammas and stuff? Go figure.)

She began her introduction to us Students by barking, "I have a background in Military Training! And I expect you all to perform as well as in the Military! Consider this Boot Camp for Nurses!"

Her appearance only added to her personality. Her ears were as large as cup handles and jutted perpendicularly from her head. Her lips were thin, slightly purplish and often pursed. Her jaw was angular, meeting at a prominent, poking chin.

But her eyes were the worst: I swear they were the eyes of the devil. Bulging slightly from their sockets, the pupils were constricted and searching, penetrating as gamma rays.

She could summon glares of rage that would melt steel if even a small detail was not to her liking. This was the "look."

In a typical exchange with her, she would give me the "look," ask me what I was doing, tell me why I was wrong, give me another "look," threaten to fail me if I didn't "shape up," and walk away.

Afterwards, typically the staff nurse would give me a look of sympathy and say, "Oh my. I thought you were doing fine. I am so sorry hon."

It's been 2 months since I've finished with her, and I still feel waves of panic just thinking about her.

Sheer terror.