As a new adjunct instructor I was given three classes to teach my first semester. Although I was a bit overwhelmed, I was confident that I could handle the workload. Unfortunately my first day teaching one of my classes was pretty rough. I had a tough time getting used to demonstrating a software skill. The first day ended a little badly, but one older student in particular felt like my being there was somehow cheating him out of his education. He wrote letters to the administration to that effect, and it caused a great deal of trouble for me and my supervisor. I was unprepared for such a backlash, and I was entirely embarrassed. Later, having been paired with another instructor for the remainder of the course, did I discover that he was a known troublemaker amongst the entire teaching staff, and would often pull off stunts like this when he didn't get his way. I want to provide a great learning environment for all of my students. However, I am quite young and I feel my age may have caused some resentment from this older student. How could I better handle a student who doesn't seem to respect you due to them being older than you?