A Little Rant

I have been knitting lately, I swear. The problem is that I've been so overwhelmed by school that the only thing I can handle is garter stitch scarves and other accessories. These things don't make for great photos. I actually took a couple, but decided they belonged with a post titled: "Look Ma, My First Scarf!" So, I icksnayed the photos and decided to rant about something that has been bothering me.

At school, we've been assigned a ridiculous amount of homework. If I worked outside for school for more than 15 hours per week, it would be impossible for me to get it done. In all of my classes, I have been assigned projects that take in excess of 20 hours each all due around the same time and all within 2 weeks of being assigned. In addition, each class continues to assign homework, which takes a couple of hours as well. Many of the people that I go to school with work full time. In fact, I might be the only one who doesn't. So, we had one of these enormous projects (which by the way was also incredibly difficult) due yesterday, and several people weren't able to finish. They went and pleaded their case to the professor, stating that they work full time. One guy who did get his done had to call in sick to work two days in a row.

The professor is a new hire for SDSU and he comes from Brown University. I'm sure it's a great school and all, but I can only imagine that the student that attends Brown is quite different from the student who attends SDSU. For most of the people who attend SDSU, there aren't any parents paying tuition, rent, books, etc. Pretty much everyone is on their own as far as that goes and most people have to work to get through. SDSU also caters to older students and the MS program for Aerospace Engineering caters to people who are working, supposedly. That's why all graduate classes are offered after 5 p.m.

So, anyway, the professor's response is that, while he appreciates that they work, work isn't as important as school and they shouldn't be working at all while they're going to school. They should be going to school full-time. He also felt the need to say that if this class was taught at Brown, it would move twice as fast.

Another one of my professors chastises people for being late to class even if they're coming from work. He says that if they were late to meetings at work, they'd get fired, so they should treat class the same way.

Both of these professors come from Europe, where it is my understanding that very few people attend college and, for those that do, it is very affordable or free. People in middle to lower middle classes can't attend college. I may be wrong about that, but this is what I've heard. Obviously this isn't true in the States where, thanks to the community colleges and state universities, a college degree is attainable by pretty much everyone. However, most students have to work to get through. I feel like both of these guys are completely unjustified in their beliefs that school comes first over a job that pays your bills, puts food on the table, clothes on your back and a roof over your head. It makes me really angry on behalf of these people who struggle just to get through. It's a very un-American attitude, in my opinion. In this country, work is very important and people work extremely hard. It seems very elitist to criticize them for doing it. It makes them, in the words of my esteemed blogmate, Ivory Tower Jackasses.

There. 'Nuff said.