The bottom line is, she just doesn't try. I don't think anyone could have tried harder than I did. My enormous effort was unseen by the professor and the majority of my classmates. Nevertheless, my effort was real. She's not interested.
Effort is a tricky thing to see and evaluate.
Statistics is a fairly remote need in my life, work, and range of interests. But while I may not have cared much about the subject, I cared very much about succeeding in the class. Statistics was a required course. There was absolutely no way in the world I would have allowed myself to fail. It was my own advocacy that got me through the course.