Rate My Professor Dot Com

It's that time of year. Time for professor evaluations. Completely anonymous, right, yes, sure. This semester, I am committing to that alleged anonymity (a.k.a. definitely not anonymity) by copying and pasting my four professor evaluations here. I will commit to writing exactly 100 words about each. Names are withheld for obvious reasons.

 

1. In many respects, this was the ideal learning experience. There was a noted focus on the material, and how we responded to the material, as opposed to how well we "comprehended" the material. Would testing us on the material benefit? I would argue emphatically: NO. And PROFESSOR understood this. I am infinitely grateful. We're all adults. When motivated to learn, we learn. We don't need hands to hold. The greatest trick PROFESSOR pulled was to get us to want to learn without every saying so. This was, after all, the only class I ever actually read the material for. Seriously.

2. Making PROFESSOR teach this class should be a felony. I've never had a professor more willing to go out of her way to make class as pleasant and enjoyable as PROFESSOR did. She deserves to teach something that students will actually enjoy. Watching her try to engage my classmates was like watching someone trying to teach a horse to recite Shakespeare. Now imagine a university sadistic enough to put the trainer in that position. If I ever see PROFESSOR's name attached to potential class, I will immediately sign up for that class, because it cannot get any worse than this.

3. I say this with a noted history of pessimism regarding my entire academic career as a good-for-nothing slug: this was the best class I've ever had. I am of that opinion because I had PROFESSOR teaching this class. I have never been more engaged. I have never cared more about class material. I have never had this strong of an appreciation for an individual such as PROFESSOR in this specific context. Take this hyperbole and supplement her paycheck: I would die for PROFESSOR. Thanks, ma'am, for successfully completing the herculean task of making me actually give a shit about school.

4. Do we blame Sisyphus for his inability to get the boulder to the top of the hill? Absolutely not. We instead commend him for his efforts in continually trying to complete a task that is ultimately impossible by design. Every Tuesday morning, PROFESSOR moved figurative boulders, trying to get his class to appreciate the subject of SUBJECT. His failure to get the boulder to the top of the hill should not be put on his shoulders. I hope that the university appreciates the efforts, even as the boulder rolls down, instead of condemning him on the failure. Not his fault!!