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It is usually at this time of year that I feel as though I have wasted way too much money (forty-two hundred bucks to be exact) on classes that have taught me nothing. I know, 'you only get out of school what you put in.' Well, I have put a lot in to school such as: time in which I could be sleeping, time in which I could be working, my stress, my tears, my brain power, my mornings, MY MONEY. Yet I feel, with the exception of one class, I have not really learned anything of academic use or relevance. It does sound awful, I know, but I feel as though I have wasted a lot of energy this semester learning almost nothing.
I spoke with a professor the other day about these feelings, and she suggested I change my major. I wanted to reply that I doubt changing my major would magically make professors feel inclined to teach me something useful, but she had not yet graded my paper so I didn't say that. Instead I politely said I would consider her advice. Then she gave some wisdom that did not sit well with me. She said "You don't go to college to learn anything. You go to college to get a degree."
I am going to school to be a teacher, so I hope by the time I get my degree I will know enough to teach.
--Nikki
Nikki, this is the first time I have viewed your blog this semester, I don’t know how it escaped my notice, but you have done a really great job that makes me wish I wasn’t so lazy about doing my homework! The Easter piece was insightful, I like how you conveyed exactly why you were dismayed by the infomercials. I find the lists you have made to be entertaining, especially how you included panties as a must have for school survival! I like that you also love Gwen Stefani, I’ve been a fan of hers for years, going back to the days of the very first No Doubt album with “Trapped in a Box” and the Beacon Street Collection’s “Open the Gate”. I must admit though that her last album, “The Sweet Escape”, has been my least favorite so far, and I’ve been missing her the last few years, hoping she is revamping and improving her music. I’ve seen her twice so far, the Harajuku Tour and the Sweet Escape Tour, I wish I had seen her with No Doubt! I like the whole wasting time piece about learning nothing, I feel that way almost every day this semester! Except for English of course LOL I actually have improved as a writer, but the rest of the things I’ve learned in my classes have seemed useless, just a bunch of hoops to jump through. At least I’ve come to the realization that I hate my major and I need to go another direction. I can’t believe your professor said "You don't go to college to learn anything. You go to college to get a degree." Not that I don’t totally agree with that statement, the education system in the country is a bunch of BS, but for your teacher to actually say that is messed up. Oh well, thank goodness summer is right around the corner!
ReplyDeleteOh, this entry is so disheartening as a teacher. However, I understand where those frustrations come from. I had many classes as an undergraduate (and graduate student) that felt like nothing more than a check mark on my degree checklist.
ReplyDeleteI quickly learned that class time (the actual time you are in the classroom after driving those 25 minutes to campus) is really not what college is about. Unless you are in a lecture class in which the instructor is an energetic loves-her-job pedagogue and the material is too dense to understand on your own or you are in a class room full of students just as passionate to learn as you are, what you get out of college comes from close reading the texts assigned, and writing about those concepts. Writing and reading are the staples of the educational experience, for me. My best discussions about things I learned happened with friends or in teacher’s office hours.
What was most disappointing for me, as a teacher, was discovering that students often feel the same way that your teacher does, Nikki. Some feel they are just here to get a degree and a job. As a student I was always excited to be challenged, critiqued, and improve. My goal was never an easy A and a certificate for a job . . . alas, what to do?
Keep on trucking. I promise you will get something out of the experience :)