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?

Are Colleges Too Liberal?

One thing that you will witness a lot in college is people who are very outspoken about their views, whether religious, political, or ethical in nature. However, depending on your school and the location, some views may appear more prominent than others. Unfortunately, its hard to tell whether that's because more people hold those views, or because they are just more outspoken about them. Its even possible that people who hold one view are too afraid to speak up because they are in the minority.

Colleges are known for being extremely liberal. I go to school in a very conservative area and yet, most of the professors I know are liberal democrats, and many students are, at most, conservative democrats. Of course there are exceptions, and they tend to be very open about it. Still, the College Democrats have a much easier time staying active than the College Republicans.

A site called Campus Reform encourages students to take back their schools, and make them more conservative. While I belive that colleges should be places where there is a healthy debate on many topics, and permitting one over the other is a perfect way to discourage such debate, I'm not sure this website is going about it in the right way. Of course, encouraging debate might not be their goal. It seems like they want schools to favor conservatism above liberalism, not a healthy balance of the two.

There are a lot of related topics in a debate like this, so look for more posts on the topic. And, as always, I want to hear what your opinions are.

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