In fairness to this student's other math teachers, I believe calculus lends itself to this more than other math classes for a variety of reasons. Students struggle to see that forest through the trees.
(They also don't realize all the skills they used in my class that they learned from those other teachers. Calc wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable for them if they hadn't had good teachers the last few years.)
That said, I still appreciate this comment.
