Parents rejected me, now teachers do too!

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Mootoo
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26 Sep 2012, 9:02 am

Tell me: is the point of college to sit down and STFU? They don't say it explicitly, but that's how it seems it is sometimes.

I just asked asked two psychology teachers so far if they possibly had any time or interest to review some of the notebook I have in which I write my thoughts about perception - relevant enough topic, I thought. But, oh no... a 'quick glance' is all they can do. What's the point of doing their assignments if I can't even show them my earlier work?!

My parents were as dumb as f**k, so I can understand if I'm met with some chicken noises every time I tell them my passion for philosophy and my latest theory on why I JUST HAPPENED TO END UP WITH THEM GODDAMMIT. But teachers... and their subject? Do I need to wait for university for this sort of stuff to happen, or would professors also be so incredibly busy with ret*d bureaucracy?

I. Am. And. Always. Have. Been. So... so, frustrated. I actually had the inspiration to write a book at 12 but... well, I was told by my ever-so-loving dear mother that she wishes I was dead, out of the blue... I did actually finish it, but nowadays my motivation is as depleted as global oil reserves will soon be. I keep on trying to become motivated... but who am I kidding? The mind becomes demotivated for a good reason, and those reasons in my life still very clearly exist.

I just have no clue why I'm even enrolled at college if no one cares.



thewhitrbbit
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26 Sep 2012, 10:01 am

What level are you taking, 100, 200, 300?



Curlywurly
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26 Sep 2012, 10:08 am

Remember that teachers are just people doing jobs, trying to earn a living and unfortunately may not have much interest in anything outside of the normal parameters of what that job entails (such as being at all interested in you as a unique person). Perhaps you should just look at school and college as a means to an end, and any interests you have that fall outside of the normal syllabus, you pursue independently. Basically, in my opinion, anything of any real worth you learn about life you teach yourself anyway.



helles
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26 Sep 2012, 11:05 am

I have been teaching in high school (grammar school or gymnasium) and have been a student at the university for to may years.
Teachers in my country only get a limited payment. There is a set time for teaching and doing reviews, everything outside that is woluntary work - they probably also have a family etc. to take care of. The same can be said for university teachers, but (in my country) they have a bit more time to do things that they think are interesting. So - do not take it personally, they can not take personalised care of every single student.

During University and when doing my masters degree I tried to "get through" to some of the professors/teachers (the title of professor is very difficult to obtain in Denmark). I never really succeded. I now think that this was due to my aspergers. I have seen co students who were not as bright or as interested as me get an Ph.D and I have seen a lot of not so nice persons (not to write bastards) get short term jobs and Ph.D offers at the university. This has not nessesarily anything to do with your intelligence but a lot to do with presentation. I never cracked the code - hope the best for you.


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scubasteve
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26 Sep 2012, 6:43 pm

Caring about students and taking a real interest in their work is precisely what separates the good professors from the bad ones. It doesn't matter much where you go to school, or at what level. There will always be some bad ones. But sometimes, all it takes is one good one to get back all that motivation.



Mootoo
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27 Sep 2012, 5:00 am

scubasteve, indeed, but wish me luck being motivated enough to cover all the bad ones before fortune smiles and I do happen to end up in some rare oasis.

thewhitrbbit, what kind of levels are those? Never heard of them.



thewhitrbbit
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27 Sep 2012, 8:38 am

In the US, college classes are numbered either 100, 200, 300 or 400. They indicate the degree of difficulty. 100 is considered Introduction, 400 is Advanced.

Usually when you get to the 400 level, the professors work more one on one.



Mootoo
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27 Sep 2012, 12:23 pm

Ah, right... well, I'm in the UK and colleges don't even have professors here (they're not usually equivalent to universities).



applesauce
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17 Oct 2012, 5:56 pm

thewhitrbbit wrote:
In the US, college classes are numbered either 100, 200, 300 or 400. They indicate the degree of difficulty. 100 is considered Introduction, 400 is Advanced.

Usually when you get to the 400 level, the professors work more one on one.


As Mootoo said, UK education system operates differently. College is where you study between 16 and 18 if your school doesn't have a sixth form department (which is again, ages 16-18 ). School isnt (or wasn't, may be now) compulsory beyond 16, so often the two year colleges in academic or vocational qualifications are separate from school. Some students are older than 16-18, there's no restriction on that. You don't get held back grades (we call them years) in school usually in the UK, but at sixth form you often get older students.

We only use the word University for what the US calls both college and university. Undergrad at a normal UK institution is 3 years, 4 for languages.

The 100 200 300 400 thing does exist at UK universities to some degree - at least, at my university I knew undergrads who were doing language units which were divided that way, with 4 being final year level and so on.

But sixth form college you usually take 4 or 5 subjects in the first year and 3 or 4 of those through to the second year. You pass those, you go to university - usually you need at least three good grades to go to university from those exams. At university you don't do a varied general level of courses but specialise from the first year in the subject area you want to focus on. Some people take double subjects, so are joint honours (eg French and business, maths and politics, that kind of thing), but most do one overall subject and take units to complete that subject.

Mootoo is talking about the sixth form stage - though I'm not sure whether first or second year of sixth form.

And honestly, Mootoo, I don't think you can expect much extracurricular from sixth form level teachers. There's a big difference between that academia and that which you find at university level, where those teaching you are often serious research students or those who are beyond that point. Just stick with it and try not to let it ruin your grades...