All About Your College Professor
Six things you should know about your classroom's instructor
Oct 9, 2006
Here’s a good college life tip for academic success: get to know your professors! After all, your professor is the person with the grade book. Every professor is different, of course, but here’s some traits that are true about many professors at college and university campuses. Stereotypes? Maybe, but trust me, they’re accurate.
Your professor is a nerd. Your professor almost definitely was not one of the popular kids in high school. (I sure wasn’t!) Anyone who would spend ten-plus years of their lives getting an education is a class-A Nerd (myself included). Your professor probably listens to National Public Radio, is addicted to cable news, and enjoys wine tastings. Not that this is bad. Would you rather receive an education from that popular Neanderthal jock who gave wedgies to the freshmen, or from that nerdy guy who led the Chess Club to the state championship?
Your professor has an inflated sense of the importance of the course’s subject. Your nerdy professor has been studying this stuff for years, and may forget that not everyone is fascinated by Ukrainian foreign policy or platypus DNA. However, enthusiastic professors can sure make a class more interesting, so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.
Your professor is overworked and underpaid. Your professor doesn’t want to hear that you don’t have time to finish her assignment, because she has to finish a book proposal, write a conference paper, go to a meeting, take her kids to soccer practice, and grade your assignment, all in the next twenty-four hours.
Your professor is out of touch with the real world. Professors can’t help it. They’re surrounded by brainiacs who spend their lives studying Ukrainian foreign policy and platypus DNA, so they don’t know what it’s like to be in a world where people talk about sitcoms around the water cooler. Many of them never had jobs outside of academia.
Your professor may or may not care about students. Seek out professors that like students and genuinely want to help. These folks might be scarce, especially at a large university. However, many people do become professors because they enjoy teaching young people, so keep your eyes open.
Your professor thinks that students were way better back in the day. Back when your professor was in college, students took school far more seriously; they studied harder, took pride in their work, had better writing skills, and probably even smelled better. Or so your professor thinks. And it doesn’t matter if your professor is eighty-eight or twenty-eight; they’re all under this collective delusion.
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