Greetings. If this question isn't right for the subreddit, sorry about that! I've been studying at a language school in Japan for several months now, and in that time, I've gotten the chance to speak Japanese to several locals and obviously my Sensei.
In class, and as far as online resources tell me, when referring to someone you don't know in the third person, you usually use the words "彼/彼女" depending on the gender, similar to english. However, despite being a woman, multiple times I've been called "彼” by both strangers and some of my Sensei when talking about me to other people or students. For example, one time in class I gave an answer to a question the rest of the class was struggling with, and when asking them to repeat my answer he gestured to me and said to the class「彼は何と言った？」.
I'm pretty tall and have a deep voice which I'm a little insecure about, and I'm worried people are thinking I'm a guy, but am unsure if there is some language context I'm just not getting and was hoping someone more experienced with the culture could give me some insight.
EDIT: I was asked by comments to include that my name is "キャラ” and its possible im just mishearing my name. Most people call me “キャラさん” so I didn't consider this until now.