Early workloads benefit students
Posted September 6, 2012 at 3:24 pm in Blogs, Viewpoints
As college freshmen, the image of the first day of school is etched hauntingly into our minds. We return from a short expanse of time called summer, and are instantly catapulted into a world of homework, lectures and projects.
As much as we complain about the workload and lament the summer days gone by, this attitude only obstructs the mindset necessary for post-secondary education. It may seem overwhelming, but when professors set their expectations high in the first week of school it is for our own good.
Before college, the first day, or even week, of school was always devoted to reiterating classroom expectations or the dated first-grade practice of exchanging names and other trivial pleasantries. This made sense back when school was for learning to read, socialize and follow rules.
In college, however, we have more work to do and less time to do it. We also have a narrow window to decide whether we like a class or not. Wasting time reading a syllabus, which we are completely capable of reading ourselves, is counterproductive.
It is a choice and a privilege to come to college, especially a prestigious university like USC. When we agreed to come here, we knew what we were signing on for. Most of us only have four short years to find ourselves, learn a lot of information and leave. We have no time to waste on the first day of class; the professor should start teaching immediately.
It seems an anathema for any college student to desire more work, but college is meant to prepare us for a career by helping us develop a skill set that is desirable to potential employers. After college you don’t get time to settle in, you get jolted into reality from day one.
It might be painful for the unprepared student, professor or TA, but utilizing the first day as one to learn and study is an advantage that students attending a private university, especially one as expensive as USC, cannot afford to ignore.
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