We have all had that one professor. The one who, on the first day of school, spoke in a monotone voice pointing monotonously at the syllabus. Within the first hour of the first day, they have made it clear that they are not at all enthused about this class and are already over it. Throughout the rest of the quarter, this class consists of them scrolling through a PowerPoint presentation (most likely made 10 years ago) and lecturing by reading directly off the slides without any new information.
Sound familiar? While some people see this type of class as an easy A, I see it as a complete disgrace. I have a professor this quarter who has this exact procedure for class, whereupon after class, he will uploads these slides he has read off of online.
I understand, not every class is going to be as engaging as the class on "How To Get Away With Murder." However, reading off of a slide you made years ago without engaging any thought or conversation isn't teaching.
Why go to class? More importantly, why should I care about a class that you have made obvious is so unimportant that you can't even muster an actual conversation about the subject?
Professors who do this: You are killing enthusiasm for school. Even on my most stressful days of school, I remind myself how lucky I am to have the opportunity to go to school. Thousands of girls globally do not have the opportunity to get an education. To those of us who can, we want to take it on fully and get the most out of it.
There are a few professors who will always have a place in my heart, as they have changed me. I had one professor in particular who taught a subject I had no interest in whatsoever. Throughout the quarter she immersed me within this subject. I was thinking about this class even when I wasn't studying for it — it almost agitated me how much she was changing the way I was thinking. By the end of the quarter, I was so engrossed with the subject that I had decided to make it my second major.
To the professors who half-ass their classes like this: You will never be that professor for anyone.
Does't that bother you? You are put onto our campus to make this kind of an impact on us, to elicit strong opinions and mold minds. It perplexes me as to why my tuition is going to these kinds of professors.
By the end of the quarter, I have learned nothing but the trite information so aridly typed up on your computer and regurgitated onto an exam, only for me to forget about it a week later.
This is not higher education. This is a sophomoric, lazy way of illustrating information much of us want to fully grasp so that we may reap the education we are pursuing. You are not helping anyone but the apathetic students looking to do as little as possible and collect the benefits.
To those of us who want to learn, to those of us who have dreamed of going to college since a child, to those of us who feel lucky because we live in a country that allows for our education, you are a dishonor to our time.
