Good-bye Syllabi... (part I)

So I was thinking the other day... (surprise, surprise) about all my friends and family who are currently in the midst of collecting syllabi and course requirements as they embark upon another quest to survive just "one more" semester at college. I'm not sure exactly what prompted these thoughts - but it may have had something to do with the fact that people have been repeatedly asking me: "So, how does it feel to not have to go back to school this semester?"... maybe there's a connection there(?!?)

Anyway, back to the original thought - I was reflecting upon my own college experience and in particular lamenting over just how much I truly HATED the first week back to school... You know, it's the week where you start out all excited and legitimately "pumped" about the classes you will be taking, the professor's who will be teaching you, the people you know who will be in those same classes with you, the people you didn't realize would be in those classes with you that you get really excited to see on that first day... etc. etc. But then it happens...

You find yourself walking out at the end of your first class where the professor has done little more than hand you a neatly stapled grouping of papers before continuing to read it aloud to the entire class verbatim. While this may not have the same effect on most college students as it did on me, I will never forget those intense emotions that began to cloud and consume me as I walked out of one class and into another where the same protocol would be followed to the "T"... and then another, and then another, and after each dose these emotions would intensify to the point that usually by about the end of the second or third day of being "back-to-school" I would be ready to quit and drop out... FOR LIFE! These were the all too familiar feelings of being overwhelmed, instantly stressed and honestly fearful of what it would "take" to accomplish all that was required for each of those classes within a short 12 weeks of class... let alone what it would take to maintain decent grades with a requirements list that was longer than all of Keith Drury's hikes COMBINED!

I'm not sure what drives professors to create a syllabus... I'm not sure why they feel the need to devote their whole first class period to simply reading through it... I'm not sure why the requirements list is always so intense (well, maybe they sit around in "staff meetings" trying to "one-up" each other with their own set of syllabi... Can't you just hear it now: "oh, yeah - well check this out!" as Dr. Bounds pulls out his newly revised Fall 2005 Syllabus for Theology I... Or maybe not...) But there is one thing that I am sure of, and it's this: While there is still a good chance that I will pursue further education at some point in my life; for now, I am incredibly happy & grateful to say "Good-bye Syllabi" (while wishing all of my college friends the best of luck... of course!)

Stay tuned... there may be a part II!
Clint.