Many things have shocked me during my semester abroad in London. Paper is a different size. In my dorm, faucets have separate spigots for hot and cold water, leaving you with either freezing or burning hands and no middle ground. People use public transportation and read newspapers like those are important or something. But perhaps my favorite difference is my university’s essay grading system.

One frigid Thursday morning in my 19th Century British literature class, my professor began discussing our upcoming essays. The Americans asked about formatting – what referencing system do we use? How many sources? Do we just number the pages with our last name in the top right-hand corner?

We were stopped right there. No names. Nothing but your student number is allowed to identify you on any page of your essay.

Startled by how adamant he was, we asked why? And then he dropped some knowledge so astounding our eyebrows remained in the upright and shocked position for a good 10 minutes after.

“Teachers are only human.”

Come again?

“Teachers are only human,” he said. “We strive for fairness and objectivity and we don’t want to risk showing a bias for or against anyone.”

They don’t want to be tempted to mark down the student who never comes to class. They don’t want to show favoritism to the student who is always participating. They don’t want to hold certain students to one set of standards and certain students to another. So to do away with all that, they do away with our names.

And I think the system benefits everyone. Gone are the days of students complaining that they get bad grades in a class because the teacher just doesn’t like them. It’s all based on the work you turn in. So maybe don’t wait until the night before it’s due to write it and then wonder why you get a C.

For the system of no bias to fail, the teachers would have to look up everyone’s student numbers. And with a pile of essays to grade on their desks, I can’t imagine why anyone would give themselves that extra work.

Although fairness is gained, personal relationships between teachers and pupils are lost. I turned into a number. Only one teacher even knew my name by the end of the semester.

At a smaller university like Chapman, this connection with teachers is not lost, especially within your own major.

I think the British system should be used at Chapman, where students would get the best of both systems. This is not to say that teachers are biased and incapable of fair grading. Absolutely not. But why not take the risk out of the equation and take the complaint away from the students?

After all, we’re all only human.