Melanie (Eva Löbau), an idealistic and naive young woman, leaves her country home and lover to take a teaching job in a German city. Socially inept and sorely lacking in disciplinary skills, she is ill-equipped to deal with her unruly students and dismissive colleagues. She tries to make friends with a neighbor (Daniela Holtz), but the neighbor is clearly uninterested. The pressure at work and the loneliness at home soon become too much for Melanie to bear.