I am taking four classes this term and in all of them, there is at least one adult student in the class. Now, since I am an adult student myself, I think I can dare to make this point: Some of them just behave like they know everything and they do not need to be in a class!
In my one class, two of the adult students sit in the first row and basically talk the whole time as if the class was a private session between them and the teacher. One day, our teacher forgot to give us a quiz that was supposed to happen that day. Naturally, nobody reminded him to give us the quiz so the teacher just begun his lecture. All of a sudden, one hand in the first row shoots up in the air and what comes out of the mouth of the adult student? "I think we were supposed to have a quiz today". Honestly, and those guys wonder why traditional students do not like adult students.
Another example comes from another class in which one of the adult students had to give a presentation. While he was setting up his PowerPoint, the teacher realized that he had forgotten something in his office. While the teacher apologized for having to run back to the office, the student just says: "Don't worry, I'll just go ahead and explain the kids what I'm doing". Honestly, we're in College, which means that everyone is at least 19, which in my opinion is clearly AFTER childhood!
A really big thing that some adult students do not realize is that if they sit in class rolling their eyes and continuously looking at their watches because they already know ALL the material from all their precious life experience, the teacher actually realizes that behavior and gets annoyed. Naturally, the whole class has to suffer because this teacher then gets frustrated and angry and as punishment might assign an even bigger work load. Honestly, if you already know it all, why don't you just take the class as a tutorial and stay out of the classroom!!
Fellow adult students, we need to fit in here, because we are the minority! Traditional aged students rule the College campuses. We should not try to stick out like that by calling everyone a kid or showing off how much knowledge and life experience we already have. This just makes our classmates angry and the teachers as well. Why not go with the flow, pretend to be young again and just enjoy college with FRIENDS amongst the traditional students. I tried it and it works perfectly fine for me!
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2 comments:
AMEN!!! adult students should just attempt to friend the 18-21 year old students and we all wouldnt be annoyed so much. I have a class where there is this one adult student who i swear she thinks she knows everything and i just roll my eyes every time she speaks. They call us kids, granted we are younger but we are not kids either. Adult students can as well do what the majority does and just kind of sit and listen and not every two seconds throw in your input or go out of your way to make the rest of the class look bad.
I guess someone would have to look at what classifies someone as an adult student. Merely being above the age considered to be a traditional student is not the only criteria for being considered an adult in the real world. At most Universities, an 18 year old who is married or has a child is considered an adult student because they have adult responsibilities. Sure, there are those who sit in class and boast how much they have learned in REAL life, but there are also people who are sitting in classrooms who instead of worrying about who got drunk last night, are actually worrying about sick children or their spouses or jobs. Most adult students are trying to squeeze into the limited time they have, a chance to learn and get ahead in their life. I have two classes this term and yes, I get bored and irritated sitting in class going over things that I have already learned while I am also worrying about my job that I am taking time away from, my father who is dying of cancer, my husband who may be losing his newly acquired job due to cutbacks. But just the same as the rest, I do the homework, I study for the tests and I earn the grades. I also take some time out to think about those who are sacrificing precious time with their loved ones to sit in class with fellow students who actually have the time to criticize the people who are trying to improve their lives for themselves and their families.
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