Friday, October 16, 2009

College and Challenges

I know when I was in college, it was hard for me to imagine that I could possibly approach a professor. I mean this person was all knowing. This person lectured year after year, sharing the wisdom that he obtained from years of schooling and years of teaching. Sorry to use the term 'he' but when I went to college thirty years ago most of the professors I had were men. I remember being particularly in awe of the science professors as they rapidly scrolled formulas on the overhead projector while I wrote down whatever they wrote in the hopes that it would all make more sense to me when I got back to my dorm. It usually didn't.

My youngest and I chatted today and she was disappointed in a grade she got on a test she took. It was her first test in that class and she said based on the information they got as to how many points each thing was worth, she should have gotten less points off than she did.

I suggested that she challenge it and politely ask her professor for a bit of his time so that she might ask him about her test. She said she will do it. I hope she does. One important thing I learned in college was to question things you do not understand, and challenge things that do not seem right to you. Most professors will welcome the question and be glad that you care enough to know if it is right or if not how he came up with the results he did. Even if my daughter finds out her grade score is accurate, she will get a better understanding of why and be better prepared the next time around.

It is funny how when we have kids in college, it can bring back so many memories...was it really 3o years ago that I graduated?...my mind says no, but my mirror says yes!

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