My Thursday March 19 column “Pep pampers academic ‘girly-men'” is making waves. From professors and students alike I’ve received both roses and darts. To both gifts I say thank you. It is nice to see my column’s challenge was well-received and I’ve always wanted to try acupuncture.
Some people couldn’t see past my introductory People magazine simile to see the essence of my argument and call to a greater sense of personal responsibility.
The column’s primary purpose was to encourage us all to rise to a higher level of excellence. Whether we are straight- “A” students or following the “Cs-get-degrees” methodology there is always room for improvement. We can get closer to that goal is by eliminating the sense of entitlement that comes too quickly in such a blessed environment. And hey if you don’t see yourself in that category: good. Here’s my challenge to you: Take the time to lift your peers to your level. I see myself on both sides and I chose to accept both calls.
Ultimately professors can choose whether or not to accommodate the girly-man mentality. But what I’m trying to do is obliterate the mentality altogether and encourage students to do what they came here for and that’s to learn. Professors can’t force students to learn no matter how they set up their classes. The girly-man concept is in fact a tug-of-war with two parties but I’m a big fan of personal responsibility. I like the idea of figuring out what I can do to solve something rather than blaming others: hence my challenge to expect less from our professors and more from ourselves. It’s pseudo-JFK if you think about it.
Yes Pepperdine does pamper academic girly-men and it does because girly-men ask for it.
“Are you going to give us a study guide?” “Is there going to be a handout?” “Can you put your Powerpoint slides on Blackboard?” I would be very surprised if a student went to Pepperdine for more than a year and never heard these questions.
In my last column I referred to an experience that occurred during a review session before a test. A student interrupted and asked if the information could be posted on Blackboard. Over the course of my three years here I’ve heard similar requests in different classes but this time it struck me differently and inspired me to initiate this conversation.
I had to put myself in my professor’s shoes: What if I stood up in front of Ashlyee Hickman for six weeks decided – for her benefit – I would repeat myself during the class before the test and ended up having her ask me to transcribe and send her everything I just said? Has she heard of a little activity called taking notes?
It’s almost to say “Hey thanks for the for helping me out. While you’re at it can you make me a sandwich and send me your notes through my Facebook IM?”
From day one each of our professors already knows the concepts of jump cuts contingency plans the importance of manna in the Old Testament and how the balance of power affects international relations: We don’t. We need to take more personal responsibility and advantage of our very expensive education. One of my former professors said it best: We wouldn’t go to the mall leave $1000 on the counter and walk out empty-handed.
I think we face this mentality because we set grades at a higher priority than learning. It’s the equivalent of dropping a grand at the mall and walking out with just a receipt. When doomsday arrives and I start dodging Sallie Mae’s debt minions by paying off my student loans I want each check to count for something very specific: payment number one for learning Spanish payment number two for learning how to make a business plan etc.
The girly-man mentality is not isolated in one division although my critics have assumed it is. Given the community-nature of Pepperdine that sense of elitism will not contribute to the university’s success.
What can I say: I believe the burden of challenge does not rest solely on the professors. Part of my annoyance comes from growing up in a household of educators and watching them meticulously prepare lesson plans in hopes of delivering them to a receptive audience. That’s why I feel uneasy when a professor asks a question and no one bothers to answer because frankly Eric’s brand-new “It’s Complicated status is far more captivating.
Call me a maverick or menace, but I’m all about maximum potential and wouldn’t point this out if I didn’t care about the university. Some people say the sky is the limit. I say the sky can be a spring-board to a new frontier. All we have to do is man” and wo”man” up and have the willingness to grow.