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[Aqizzar]

Newsflash!

It's not actually that much better in college.

It's really really not.  I had a class where me and two other people had to give a presentation on the Iranian economy.  We divided it up the first day: #1 guy would do the Iranian banking system, #2 me would do the politics, and #3 would do the economic sectors.  Maybe not a great layout, but okay.  #1 guy was hard to stay in contact with, but he did his research, but totally borked up our requisite Powerpoint, so I would up just standing at the computer with a txt of web addresses for the pictures we wanted to show.  My part was fabulous of course.

Where it fell apart was guy #3, who we never heard from again until five minutes before stagetime, and took "describe the Iranian economy" as "talk about interesting stuff".  He had a whole section about how cool it is that Iran has native cheetahs.  The professor actually told me that he gave us points back when he saw my deer-in-headlights look while the guy was talking.

Luckily, the main difference between college and gradeschool is that you have very very few group projects.  Over the course of my Bachelors, I think I only had like five group projects, tops.

[ToonyMan]

Iranian cheetahs does sound cool.

[Aqizzar]

Iranian cheetahs does sound cool.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly learned something.  Iranian cheetahs are cool.  But a thriving engine of the economy they are not.

[Bdthemag]

Iranian cheetahs does sound cool.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly learned something.  Iranian cheetahs are cool.  But a thriving engine of the economy they are not.

Well, maybe the Iranian economy is based off of cheetahs.

[Bauglir]

Iranian cheetahs does sound cool.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly learned something.  Iranian cheetahs are cool.  But a thriving engine of the economy they are not.

Well, maybe the Iranian economy is based off of cheetahs.

So like a deflated version of the hedgehog economy?

And yeah, group projects. They don't happen often, but when they do they're terrible unless you already have that many friends in the class, pretty much just like high school. I basically did all of one for Biological Communication (fucking English classes) because it was easier than working out work divisions.

[Heron TSG]

Newsflash!

It's not actually that much better in college.

Perhaps not for you, but in the past two years I have noted that group projects are significantly better. I doubt very much it applies to all colleges, though. Perhaps my high school was just exceptionally bad at grouping, and thus I perceive the terrible college groups as better than they really are.

I don't know.

[TheBronzePickle]

The biggest thing that tends to separate college from high school (sometimes the only thing) is that a majority of the people in college actually want to be there and do well. This means that people are just a little less likely to goof off and a little more likely to actually do the work.

[TherosPherae]

Newsflash!

It's not actually that much better in college.

Is for me. I've been in college technically for about 2 years now, and the group projects have been few, far between, and mostly with people who aren't royal morons. Granted, there was the one English class where the professor spent more time talking about how we all need to get to know each other better than she did about English, and went out of her way to assign group projects and crap like that... that class sucked balls and I'm glad it's over with.

Just thinking about that English class makes me rage. I spent the entire class drifting off into space because it was rare that she would talk about anything besides 'the importance of relationships in highschool and college'. Yes. They're important. Now please teach what you're supposed to be teaching.

[Vector]

Hehehe, I've had math professors give me that talk

I do suspect things get a lot better after the intro engineering and programming courses, when the people who are there because

a. money
b. it looked cool and buildy--oh wait, there's actual work to be done?

are weeded out.


EDIT: Guys, there's another club meeting next week that I have to go to with tie-dying T-shirts and baking for a... bake sale... to be done.  And... only two people have signed up... yeah.  It's in a frat house.  I... urrrrrrrrrrghle.

D:

[scriver]

Why do you have to?

[Vector]

Why do you have to?

Because it's a perfect time to play Socrates The Stupid Who Asks Too Many Uncomfortable Questions.

And because I feel morally obligated.  And no matter what anyone else says, it's my goddamned moral obligation.

[Dsarker]

Yay Socrates!

Good luck with it, Vector.

[scriver]

Ah, it's the Autism Speaks thing?

[Dsarker]

Looks to be.

[Heron TSG]

Yay Socrates!

Good luck with it, Vector.

Go you!

Speaking of clubs, I made it my mission to attend at least one meeting of every club at my high school this year. This last Friday was Book Club. I walk into the meeting room to be greeting by 30 girls and one other guy, a freshman. The meeting gets underway, and people start talking about what they read over the summer and suggesting the first book the club should read. The freshman understandably gets weirded out and leaves, being pretty much alone asides from me. I stuck through for that meeting, but there's no way in hell I'm going back. Why? Stereotypes everywhere. Most of the people that were there knew me in some capacity, so most of them knew I read books. Someone brings up the topic of trying to get more men into the club, and all of a sudden, sexism.

"They don't want to be in the club because they don't have the attention span to read a book in two weeks."
"They don't know how to analyze a plot in-depth, it's just a story to them."
"Oh, we can't read that book. [My name] wouldn't be interested in it, he's a guy."

The worst part was when the adviser, the school librarian, suggested the book Swim the Fly. It's about two 15 year old boys who make it a goal of theirs to see a naked girl. Her reasoning was that it would be the kind of book boys would be interested in. Cue the entire room (sans moi) laughing for five minutes straight about how 'accurate' that statement was.

And then I failed my goal of sticking around for the whole meeting. I put my slice of pizza back in the box, scratched out my name on the sign in sheet, and marched out the door. Later, I told the librarian exactly why no guy has ever stuck around for more than a couple meetings.