Dearest professors,
You have an amazing opportunity to change young people's lives all over the world. You give your time, your energy, your love, and your hearts to us, and we're grateful. Truly, we are. Without you, we couldn't take those crucial steps forward into semi-adulthood that society seems to think qualifies us to get a job. (But that's another post for another time.)
But there is one infuriating mistake many of you seem to make. Yes, every professor I've had thus far in my college career has said this at one time or another, and I felt it was time to make my frustrations known to the three people who actually read my blog.
Let me be clear, so as to avoid any possible confusion. We are all adults, according to the rite of passage that is our eighteenth birthdays. We are not, as you seem to think, in preschool, incapable of imagining a world different from our own. We are (generally) intelligent and creative, and we can, in fact, empathize with others.
So, dearest professors, please refrain from telling us this in all seriousness:
"Now, the _____ (culture) didn't have Twitter or Facebook or Instagram. They couldn't upload selfies or text each other. They had to write letters or hop on a boat if they wanted to speak to someone!"
Ummmmmm.
Are you, dearest professors, implying that we didn't know this? Because it seems to me that every single time this implication (or one like it) has left your mouths, you appear to be ... totally serious, as if we would have never, ever guessed without you telling us this revolutionary information. Just last week, in fact, one of my professors was about to show us a film about Martin Luther. And I kid you not, the professor opened by saying, "Now, I want to make this very clear: this is not Martin Luther. These are actors. This is not real footage from 1517."
The very fact that professors feel the need to say this makes me want to cry (in frustration, not because I'm sensitive). Do you really think we're that stupid? Have you lost that much faith in us? Do we really come across that thickheaded?
Please, dearest professors, do us the courtesy of treating us like the young adults we are. Don't say things like this to us. It might seem silly, but if you treat us like children, you shouldn't expect us to act like adults! We are well aware that the Sumerians didn't have Twitter. We know the Victorians didn't upload selfies. We are not stupid.
That's my brief suggestion. If any professors happen to read this, please take it to heart and do your students the courtesy of assuming they are capable of imagining a world without technology.
With respectful exasperation,
Me
You have an amazing opportunity to change young people's lives all over the world. You give your time, your energy, your love, and your hearts to us, and we're grateful. Truly, we are. Without you, we couldn't take those crucial steps forward into semi-adulthood that society seems to think qualifies us to get a job. (But that's another post for another time.)
But there is one infuriating mistake many of you seem to make. Yes, every professor I've had thus far in my college career has said this at one time or another, and I felt it was time to make my frustrations known to the three people who actually read my blog.
Let me be clear, so as to avoid any possible confusion. We are all adults, according to the rite of passage that is our eighteenth birthdays. We are not, as you seem to think, in preschool, incapable of imagining a world different from our own. We are (generally) intelligent and creative, and we can, in fact, empathize with others.
So, dearest professors, please refrain from telling us this in all seriousness:
Ummmmmm.
Are you, dearest professors, implying that we didn't know this? Because it seems to me that every single time this implication (or one like it) has left your mouths, you appear to be ... totally serious, as if we would have never, ever guessed without you telling us this revolutionary information. Just last week, in fact, one of my professors was about to show us a film about Martin Luther. And I kid you not, the professor opened by saying, "Now, I want to make this very clear: this is not Martin Luther. These are actors. This is not real footage from 1517."
The very fact that professors feel the need to say this makes me want to cry (in frustration, not because I'm sensitive). Do you really think we're that stupid? Have you lost that much faith in us? Do we really come across that thickheaded?
Please, dearest professors, do us the courtesy of treating us like the young adults we are. Don't say things like this to us. It might seem silly, but if you treat us like children, you shouldn't expect us to act like adults! We are well aware that the Sumerians didn't have Twitter. We know the Victorians didn't upload selfies. We are not stupid.
That's my brief suggestion. If any professors happen to read this, please take it to heart and do your students the courtesy of assuming they are capable of imagining a world without technology.
With respectful exasperation,
Me
No comments:
Post a Comment