How to Be Well-Liked in Your Classes

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While in college, one of the most important things you will do is study. If you are smart, your biggest goal will not be to become the best liked person on campus. If the latter just comes naturally, of course, than more power to you. That being said, my title seems pointless. The goal of this post is not so much so that you will be popular among your classmates so much as it is to give you tips so that you do not make their college career more difficult.

1. Before you ask a question, decide whether it benefits anyone in the class other than you. If it is something that the teacher has gone over more than twice, or about a situation that applies only to you, wait until class is over to talk to the professor one-on-one or go see him or her during office hours. On that note, keep the "What if" scenarios to a minimum and keep them reasonable.


2. College is a great place for debate, and everyone has their own opinion. However, the middle of class is not the time or place to get aggressive. If you and another student or the professor disagree, handle it like the adults you are and discuss things calmly. If necessary, agree to disagree.


3. Before you go on any kind of tangent or attempt to steer the professor down another track, decide whether or not what you have to say is relevant, at least in part, to the class. For example, your feelings about the nation's exercise habits may be a very good thing to share during health class, but not in the middle of marketing class.

4. Respect your fellow students and the professor. There will be annoying classmates no matter what your major is but resist the urge to roll your eyes every time they open their mouths, or talk about them behind their backs. This goes for your professor as well. Don't interrupt anyone while they are talking, have patience, give everyone a chance, they might surprise you.

Readers, is there any advice that you would add to the list?

Cafeteria

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As a student who pays boarding fees, I mostly eat in the cafeteria. It works out pretty convientently, and the food is alright. Of course, there are plenty of problems with it. For one, the vegetarian options are limited. When I have tried to eat meat free, I usually end up eating cheese pizza or grilled cheese with tomato and lettuce (delicious, but not always filling).

On top of the vegetarian issue, I'm not sure the cafeteria is the healthiest place to eat anyways, and certainly not the most environmentally friendly. At the beginning of this semester we made the change to trayless, but there has been some resistance, including a request for our Student Government to change it back.
Anyways, this brings me to the topic of today's blog: a woman, known on the internet as Mrs. Q, has just spent a year experiencing school lunches. Understandably, she has a lot of concerns. View her blog here.

The blog made me think: in college, our parents are a lot less involved with school than they once were. As such, they hardly ever serve as advocates for us any more. But what if a parent were so fed up with college cafeteria food that they decided to do the same experiment that Mrs. Q did? Would they be happy with your school's food? What would bug them the most?

Of course, as adults, we are now responsible for our own health and happiness. That is one of the biggest differences between high school and college in my opinion.

What do you think are the biggest issues with college lunches today? Please leave your comments.

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