I came here to learn, or at least get a piece of paper that says I learned, certainly not to be bored, frustrated and in debt.

I see you nodding...off, that is, in a lecture hall 20 seats deep. Or maybe you’re the kind that appears to be paying attention and taking notes when in all actuality you just can’t bear the professor’s academic droning and have decided to get a little extra math homework done instead.

Then there are the laptop users; how studious you seem consumed in your LCD glow while you make profound revelations on Facebook. This kind of blatant disregard for higher education would drive a more studious scholar to spend this article asking: What the hell is the matter with you people? Practiced as I am, however, in the art of ‘selective’ education I will ask another question: Wouldn’t you rather be getting the education you’re paying for?

It’s no secret that the cost of education has risen exponentially in the last few years; Hell, everything costs more. Yet I can’t help but squirm when I think of the check I wrote for thousands of dollars to sit in class after class listening to lectures bogged down with heady academic lingo, or have patience with ineffective teaching methods. I came here to learn, or at least get a piece of paper that says I learned, certainly not to be bored, frustrated and in debt.

I’m not suggesting that the answer is going up to professor La-dee-da and telling him that he’s boring, and that his classes make you want to put a fork in your eye. Yet perhaps it would be an idea to meet with him about a few of the things you’d like to be learning instead.

Communication should always be an option. I hate it when, on the first day of class, a professor or TA gets on his jaunty little soapbox when the paragraph on participation and attendance comes up in the syllabus. “If you’re going to leave early, DON”T COME. If you’re coming late, DON’T COME.” They kindly build in absences for ‘emergencies’ and go about teaching the class with varying levels of enthusiasm, and we students take what we will.

Some classes are like that, others you expect more from. I’m speaking specifically of those others, the ones that fill requirements, that bring the hope of learning something new, then half way through the semester find you stalling out in first gear.

The potential was there so what happened? Likely if you talk around, you’ll find some of your classmates feel the same. You could talk to the head of the department, send an email or talk to the professor himself. Just don’t sit there unsatisfied – you’re the one paying for it.

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