Every class is important. Something could have been said outside the notes that you definitely need to know. Even if you’re late, although you won’t necessarily get credit for that day, you should be there to learn.
Now I have no argument about learning being important, but the slough about *every* class being important doesn’t exactly hit home with me. First semester I had to sit through a couple weeks of relearning things I hadn’t yet forgotten from junior high. This semester, mostly because of the caucuses, I have had to sit through giant class long campaigns for Howard Dean. To top it off, to say that we won’t get daily credit for even being a few minutes late is horrendous. All that says is that being late and not being there at all is exactly the same. Hey, as long as you have a friend in the class, you can get notes and have them fill you in on the important details.
The truth is, if I know that any particular day, in a certain class I’m going to have to sit through someone talking about how great Howard Dean is, “SQ3R” (for you non-Humboldt students, that’s “Study, Question, Read, Recite, Review” from Mrs. Muller’s 8th grade Literature class), or 7th grade math assignments disguised as “Statistics”, then I’m not going to show up. I’ll show up enough to get a B in the participation, but beyond that, it’s a waste of my time. Even more so, it’s a waste of my time to go to a class if I’m not going to get credit for only being five minutes late. The only exception to that is in the case of a test or exam.
College, I thought, is supposed to be a lot harder than high school, but I am finding that it’s junior high all over again. I was never too fond of junior high, either. We were told that we had all these new opportunities and choices to make, only to find that when we went to make a certain choice, it was over-ruled by the school. That was the entire reason I didn’t join Student Senate when I was in 7th grade. I stood back, saw what happened when an issue came to boil, and was appalled at the results. The students found great solutions to many problems, but all those solutions were turned down because the teachers didn’t like the ideas or just didn’t want to make changes. Well I ask if students, some of the most stubborn people on the face of the earth when it comes to making an effort, are willing to change, why aren’t their teachers?
Don’t get me wrong; I have known some great teachers who have taught me by example to test every theory, try any idea, and think outside the box. Those were the teachers I like to designate as the “fun” teachers: Mr. Mooney, Mrs. Slaiter, Mrs. Reher, Mr. Roghair. They were all great; a little odd, but great nonetheless because they made people think differently. It’s because of these people that school was actually a challenge.
Now, however, I am utterly disappointed. Some of the ideas have good intentions: “If you don’t make an effort to show up for class, your grade is still going to suffer even if you study at home and have excellent test scores”, but it’s a double-bladed sword. If you want people to actually show up, even if they’re late, give them partial credit for at least showing up within the first half hour of class. The clep option is a wonderful idea, but students shouldn’t have to take classes which they’ve already passed possibly three years ago. If it’s a college class, prove it; don’t use the same textbook that the local high schools are using for a 10th grade class. I say this because my roommate’s boyfriend was laughing last semester because his Biology course used the exact same textbook that we had in Mr. Wickett’s 10th grade Biology class. Even my Biology textbook this semester, although not exactly the same, covers the same material. Does anybody else see what’s wrong with that?
Yep, here’s the part where you’re probably staring at the page, going, “What the –bleep- is she thinking? Life is hard enough. Why does she want to make it harder?” Well, I am one of the few that think we need to be challenged in life. I didn’t say that all courses should be harder. Some of them are just fine the way they are, and it’s even nice to just have to do a repeat of a certain course since you basically already know all the information for that course. Especially if it’s a course that you will never completely use in life. Other ones, however, could use a change or are not worth repeating. I can say that American Government is a little bit more interesting than the course I took from Mr. Muller, but, as I said, campaign ads annoy me and especially ones that are for Howard Dean. (Receive about two dozen handwritten letters within a week from people you don’t know saying how great he is, and you might begin to feel the same way. Sorry, but I just don’t like the tactics of his support organization.) In all, it depends on the base knowledge of the subject. College is supposed to prepare you for a career, but more often than not, although in the end it may just prepare you well enough, in the short run it only adds stress and sleep deprivation to those who aren’t lucky enough to have everything paid for by Mommy and Daddy.
Now if you want to chew me out for all of that, go right ahead. My e-mail address is located with the rest of them at the Staff Listing, and I’d love the feedback.
