On my first day of class this term, one of my professors provided us with a link to an article called, “Professors’ Pet Peeves” by Lisa Wade. In it, Ms. Wade goes on a tangent about the horrible things students do to get on their professors’ nerves. While I understand many of the points she makes, not only is her tone disparaging, but she very clearly does not understand some of the reasons behind why students behave the way they do.
The first point she makes is that instructors are not there to be friends with the students and that we must correspond in a professional manner. While I understand her point, the majority of the professors I have had aren’t exactly professional themselves. I can not count the number of times I would send a Professor a well thought out and articulated email to just get a “K Thanks” or simply “Got it” in response. Of course, I will continue to use appropriate language and structuring in my own emails but I can see why such responses do not inspire professionalism.
Another pet peeve that Ms. Wade points out is that many students pack up their things before class is officially over. She says that this hurts her feelings and makes it seem like we, the students, are “dying to get out of there.” Right off the bat, I can say that even in some of my favorite lectures I still pack up early. Why? Because often times my schedule makes it so that my next class starts 10 minutes after the previous one.
On a campus like the University of Oregon’s which is home to more than 20,000 students and almost 300 acres in total, it takes me at least 15 minutes to speed walk from one side of the main campus to the other. So the reason that I pack up early is so that I can get to my next class as close to the start time as possible. This is especially difficult to do when many professors’ lectures end up taking longer than the allotted time.
For the lectures in which the professors take attendance, a couple minutes could mean a drop in my overall class grade!
Ms. Wade’s last pet peeve is students who act like they are “too cool for school.” She makes the point that “Professors and teaching assistants are the top 3% of students” and that we, as students, should make a point to at least pretend to care about a class in order to stay on their good side. I, as a student, would probably fall under the category of acting “too cool for school" in some of my lectures.
Yes, I do sit in the back of the classroom, yes I do slump, and yes, often times I probably do look bored as well. However, nine times out of ten, the slump and bored expression are simply the fact that it is 9 a.m. or 5 p.m. and I am tired. It’s hard to look attentive when you have had school part of the day, work the rest of the day, and then homework into the early hours of the morning.
It isn’t that we are trying to be disrespectful. It’s that often times we have a hundred things going on and not enough time to recover.
Students will always frustrate teachers, and teachers will always frustrate students in one way or another. However, as easy as it is to peg students as disrespectful, unenthusiastic, and reluctant to learn, odds are that we are simply tired.
Please, give us the benefit of doubt and understand that the majority of us are simply dealing with more than meets the eye.
