Since this past June, I have been attending school full-time in pursuit of some sort of degree. I'm not sure what yet. The original plan was anthropology, but then I got sort of seduced by history and the idea of teaching. The jury is still out, but I'm having a wonderful time.
It has been a little over eight years since I quit my first bout of college, realizing I didn't want the debt or that particular degree (costume design) and frankly didn't like school much anyway. Much has happened since then, but recently, with a little nudge from my mom, I decided it might be useful to have some kind of degree after all, especially if I can manage it without accumulating too much debt. That would be swell!
In my two years of college before I quit, and throughout my academic career before that, I was not a good student. Some of my teachers might disagree, because I was a nice student, and mostly not a bad student, but I was not a good student. I put forth the minimum effort most of the time.
I have a certain amount of aptitude for several subjects, so this resulted in a decent GPA. Nothing to brag about, but okay. Mostly A's and B's with the occasional C and a D in driver's ed because I HATED that teacher and I'm pretty sure he felt the same about me.
Something has changed since then. I seem to have transformed into someone with very Hermione-ish study habits and attitudes about school (If any of you are unfamiliar with the world of Harry Potter, hopefully you'll get the gist.) I actually burst into tears after taking my first biology exam, certain that I had failed miserably, only to discover the next week that I had gotten an A.
This is totally new behavior for me. I am not used to caring that much. I have toned it down a little bit, since then, but I still find I have more to say in class than anyone else.
So what I'm wondering is, what should I do? I know I'm not the only one who cares. And yet, when the teacher asks the class a question, in many of my classes no one responds. No hands in the air, no shouted out statements or anything. I wait, to see if someone else will say something, but the silence gets awkward and I figure since I do have stuff to say, I'll say it. So I do, and then the teacher asks the class another question and the same thing happens all over again. It's getting really weird and I'm feeling a bit creeped out. I wish the professor would say something, like "Come on guys, I'm grading you on your participation in class, so speak up!" But they don't. They just sit there.
Apart from feeling awkward being the only one to answer questions, I do also want to know what other people think. Cripes, I don't want to talk to myself and the teacher all semester! I want dialog! I want class discussion!That's part of the learning process!
This is a little bit better than high school, but not much. Despite my lack of effort, I managed to know a lot of the answers to these things in high school and the teacher would often call on me even though my hand was not raised, just because he knew I knew the answer. I hated that. What the hell kind of a way is that to teach? Doesn't he know that just alienates me from the rest of the class?
Teachers and students, what are your thoughts?
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Just forge a 'Doctorate in Law' degree and join the American Barn Association.
Be a professional massage therapist and give free cranial sacral backbone rubs?
huh? spinal taps?
Play the bagel taps?
Get a degree in beagles?
Open a dog and cat kennel?
Name all cats Snoopy. Dogs?
I don't know. You will be great.
Bring a dozen beagles to classes.
The professors will give Ya a W!
huh?
You will pass gas in your school!
Classmates say:`Whoa! W- wow!
With you in my class I'd F- flunk!
Good morning. I call Ya P- Pretty
You are already a renowned Open Baboon blogger with a cute avatar sitting on a dunce stump.
Study to be a jockey at the racetrack.
Wear a Fedora hat at the White House?
You don't seem the type who's be a butcher.
If you get any more delightful you can be the MD.
-r-
Here is how I would think about it.
A lot of school is acculturation and keeping kids from blowing up as they mature from children to quasi adults. It has zero, nada, nothing to do with education.
I would guess that you became and adult and are, for the first time, approaching school as an adult. It is almost a shocking experience.
I would sort of mentally 'double down.' Look at it as a pure adult transaction between peers.
1. You are paying the teacher for a service.
2. He works for you.
3. What matters is what you walk away with and how you felt about the experience while you are there,.
So, pretend that you are paying big $$$ to go to a resort. Are you going to settle? Settle for anything?
No.
You are going to start out EXPECTING excellence.
Then you will, if you need to, simply ask for excellence.
If the place is even close to its reputation, then they will respond very very attentively to your request for excellence. They want to know how to please you. It's their business.
So, go ahead and treat school like a service you are paying big $$$'s for.
Your professor wants to please you. Give him the chance. (or her -- no sexism from Nick).
Forget about the children. You can't fix them -- they are in their own space and need to figure it out in their own time, in their own way.
So, it is just you and your quest for knowledge. So go get it.
Don't be embarrassed. Don't be shy. Never apologize for wanting the best.
That's how I would think about it.
Art James~ You rock!
femme forte~ Yay! Smart girls unite!
Nick~ That is an excellent way of looking at it. Granted, I'm not paying all that much, thanks to financial aid, but you are right. Asking for the excellence I expect may be necessary.
And you are totally right about school being mainly acculturation.
When I was 18 years old and a student at N.Y.U., it was really an act of bravery to speak up in class at times. It is overwhelming for these young adults to speak in front of their peers and try to interact when the professor attempts to engage them. I remember being taught American Lit in a lecture hall that was the size of a football stadium and having a Nobel Prize winner teaching the course to boot. I used to break out into a flop sweat whenever I raised my hand and tried to make some sort of meaningful contribution to the discussion.
Keep doing what you are doing, but my advice is to make friends with some of the other non-traditional students. Your university probably has a student services office and one of the staffers probably has a program just for you. Find the others and support one another as you go. Keep moving forward.
Hope
There's some good advice here already - remember that you are paying for the experience and Profs are your friends. Seek out other non-trads, or other enlightened students, and find some academic "friendships" along the way.
The biggest thing I would say is to respect your role in and your contribution to every class. If you're the only one answering questions, consider it your personal tutorial. It's your experience. Prof's are usually delighted to have non-trad.'s in class because, well, we listen, we do the homework, we're there for a reason.
I had some success working with prof.'s and their departments to do integrative learning projects. Like an independent study, I guess, but it was more guided and course based for me. I also went back through a program for non trad.'s that focuses on experiential learning and awards prior learning credits through writing a portfolio. This was at UMASS, so, not a fly by night operation!
Academic learning meant much more to me the second, third and fourth time around. Teacher's pet? Absolutely. I enjoy spending hours talking with Prof.'s - they worked hard to master a subject and I get to pick their big brains. Totally works for me.
You should feel proud of yourself for fulfilling your goals. Maybe we can collaborate on that book! :)
This is a very exciting time for you. Dig in and have fun!