Comments on: College http://www.400words.com/2007/02/08/college-professor/ :life is literature Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:36:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: Sarah Wods http://www.400words.com/2007/02/08/college-professor/#comment-1125 Sarah Wods Thu, 15 Feb 2007 05:53:30 +0000 http://www.400words.com/2007/02/07/college-professor/#comment-1125 O ye Gods of Academia, O ye Princes of Knowledge. It is said that those who can't do, teach. I don't think that's even remotely true for most of my professors. I have an archaeology professor whose greatest joy is unearthing bits of chipped rock. I had a writing professor whose prose gave me shivers, and who taught me more in three weeks than I've learned in all my years in the system. That's what it is, a system. In my three years of college I've learned to bullshit, to lie, and to sleep in late. Why? Because most of my professors require nothing more of me. The two aforementioned instructors saw my mug every class session, because every class session they had something to say. They cared about their subjects. They wanted to share the passion of their lives with their students. The weren't the only two, but the number of truly good professors is far less than the number of people with doctorates who just don't know what else to do. A doctorate doesn't make you smart. Some of the dumbest, most small-minded, petty people I've met in my life teach at a university. They impart nothing to their students. They mean nothing to their students, nothing more than a three-hour credit and a bill for some books. The system is shit, mostly because of the apathy inherent within it. Some kids come to college wanting a piece of paper and yes, they are zombies totally uninterested in scholarship. The rest of us feel gypped, paying good money every semester so some apathetic middle-aged PhD can assign us projects that are too easy and then sneer at our glazed expressions. I hope you don't teach English. O ye Gods of Academia, O ye Princes of Knowledge.
It is said that those who can’t do, teach. I don’t think that’s even remotely true for most of my professors. I have an archaeology professor whose greatest joy is unearthing bits of chipped rock. I had a writing professor whose prose gave me shivers, and who taught me more in three weeks than I’ve learned in all my years in the system.
That’s what it is, a system.
In my three years of college I’ve learned to bullshit, to lie, and to sleep in late. Why? Because most of my professors require nothing more of me. The two aforementioned instructors saw my mug every class session, because every class session they had something to say. They cared about their subjects. They wanted to share the passion of their lives with their students. The weren’t the only two, but the number of truly good professors is far less than the number of people with doctorates who just don’t know what else to do.
A doctorate doesn’t make you smart. Some of the dumbest, most small-minded, petty people I’ve met in my life teach at a university. They impart nothing to their students. They mean nothing to their students, nothing more than a three-hour credit and a bill for some books.
The system is shit, mostly because of the apathy inherent within it. Some kids come to college wanting a piece of paper and yes, they are zombies totally uninterested in scholarship. The rest of us feel gypped, paying good money every semester so some apathetic middle-aged PhD can assign us projects that are too easy and then sneer at our glazed expressions.
I hope you don’t teach English.

]]> By: Dale Rigby http://www.400words.com/2007/02/08/college-professor/#comment-1091 Dale Rigby Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:23:08 +0000 http://www.400words.com/2007/02/07/college-professor/#comment-1091 My own class of young "animals" (sic) found this self-professed "rant" less than sophomoric rhetorically(scads of immature ad hominens) and laughed at it's (sic!) truly remarkable lack of reflection or self-awareness. The only generous possibility was that this was a parody of the unexamined life, but that quickly lost traction. We'd been reading about the pitfall of what our text deems "revenge prose," and here was perfect perfidy. One wag said, "Wait until that prof is 52, not a young 42, and maybe I can durn learn him not to be the mindless hero of his own silly essay--and give him some Adderall to jazz up his tired prose, too!" Their professor was and is of the opinion that they were being far, far too kind. My own class of young “animals” (sic) found this self-professed “rant” less than sophomoric rhetorically(scads of immature ad hominens) and laughed at it’s (sic!) truly remarkable lack of reflection or self-awareness. The only generous possibility was that this was a parody of the unexamined life, but that quickly lost traction. We’d been reading about the pitfall of what our text deems “revenge prose,” and here was perfect perfidy. One wag said, “Wait until that prof is 52, not a young 42, and maybe I can durn learn him not to be the mindless hero of his own silly essay–and give him some Adderall to jazz up his tired prose, too!” Their professor was and is of the opinion that they were being far, far too kind.

]]> By: T. Budnik http://www.400words.com/2007/02/08/college-professor/#comment-1017 T. Budnik Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:06:56 +0000 http://www.400words.com/2007/02/07/college-professor/#comment-1017 insert "or" between "didn't" and "couldn't" insert “or” between “didn’t” and “couldn’t”

]]> By: T. Budnik http://www.400words.com/2007/02/08/college-professor/#comment-1016 T. Budnik Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:06:04 +0000 http://www.400words.com/2007/02/07/college-professor/#comment-1016 I think I was one of the two good ones in college. And, maybe my professors didn't couldn't tell that I thought it was all bullshit. -T. I think I was one of the two good ones in college. And, maybe my professors didn’t couldn’t tell that I thought it was all bullshit.

-T.

]]> By: ron http://www.400words.com/2007/02/08/college-professor/#comment-1010 ron Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:16:13 +0000 http://www.400words.com/2007/02/07/college-professor/#comment-1010 Thanks for that, Steve. The problem? No nuns! Thanks for that, Steve. The problem? No nuns!

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