Dear That Kid,
We all know who you are from the first moments of class, usually one like Poli Sci or Ethics where there's a lot of opportunity to voice opinions. You saunter in without a backpack, clutching a laptop or a notebook and carefully select your seat right in the professor's line of sight. During syllabus week, you can almost blend in with the rest of us. But when the first real class comes around it's the beginning of the end.
Raising your hand to the first (rhetorical) question asked, the professor politely asks your name. Even those barely conscious will soon have that name echoing in their ears whenever they think of this class. At first, the professor welcomes someone who readily answers questions, avoiding the awkward silence that follows a question posed to 150 half-asleep undergrads. After several weeks, however, his sighs and eye rolls at the sight of your hand in the air reflect what's going through everyone's minds: why won't this kid shut up?
It's great to do the reading and be prepared for class, even to enthusiastically participate and spark debate; personally, I love participating in class. I, however, am a normal, self-aware, not-obnoxious human being who knows where the line is between participation and loving the sound of my own voice. A large chunk of the class is as well prepared (if not more prepared than you), yet you don't see us waving our hands around every time there's even the remote possibility of a comment to be made. There is simply no need to talk every time something pops into your head, because, I don't know about everyone else, but everything that pops into my head is not worth raising my hand and sharing with the class.
Annoying your fellow classmates with over-participation is one thing, but making them, and even your professor, uncomfortable is quite another. When you feel the need to participate in class so much, odds are a lot of what you say is not going to be necessarily relevant, or well thought out. This leads to incredibly awkward arugements with the professor over some superfluous issue that we weren't even talking about while your classmates slump down in their seats to avoid displaying any body language that expresses agreement with you. The professor, if he has any good sense, is then in the position of shutting you down completely with his superior knowledge and challenging you to think through your responses. When this is not the case, please do not conclude that you were right; he just did not want to deal with you anymore.
So please, do everyone a favor and keep your opinions to yourself. Maybe start recording your own thoughts so you can listen to your voice all day long and spare the rest of us. We're trying to barely pay attention here.
Regards,
Your classmates.
