Published by JPLand on 15 Jan 2009 at 10:03 am
Attack of the Hard-to-Understand Professors
Last night, I started back to class. I expected it to be a little choppy on the first night and then a ton of information from there on out. Here’s what the schedule is supposed to look like (yes, that’s foreshadowing that you see):
Mondays
4:30-5:45 - Facilities Planning
Wednesdays
4:30-5:45 - Facilities Planning
6:00-9:00 - Materials
I arrived at my first class of the night. This one will be taught by an Indian gentleman (as in India, not America). His accent is still very heavy, but I can follow him if I pay close attention. He informed us that he’s going to do our entire class a favor and only have class once a week. Wednesdays from 4:30-7:30. “Any problems?” he asks. Since the class had some undergrads in it, they all yelped with joy. Using my keen sense of mathematics, I quickly realized that the new end time of 7:30 is after the start of my next class. I informed the professor of my conflict. Immediately, in his strong Indian accent he simply said “It will be Okay.”
What? That’s it? Just “It will be Okay”? I tried to talk with him after class, but I think that my southern accent must have confused him. At the end of it all, he finally said that he would do lectures during the first half of the class, which I will attend, and do problems during the second half…which I will not. So, an hour and a half into the first day, I have learned that I can only be present for half of the course time and will have to make-up all of the rest on my own. Great (said in a Charlie Brown kind of way, not Tony Tiger.)
The Materials class is taught by a lady that is a native of Poland. Her accent is very strong, as well. For some reason, though, I can understand her much better. Our first class was a review of a bunch of stuff that I should remember from my undergraduate Materials course…10 years ago. I can’t remember where I put my wallet this morning. Recalling the lattice structure of polymers is definitely out of the question. While this class will be difficult, I think that the material will be very helpful.
So, there you have it. I’ll spend Wednesdays attending 1.5 classes and the rest of the week stressing about the other 0.5. YAY!
Katie on 15 Jan 2009 at 1:14 pm #
Poor John! I am SOOOOO glad I’m not in school any more. I had several of those Indian professors myself…computer information systems. Ugh! If it hadn’t been for my nerdy/techy friends, I would never have made it! Hang in there!!
Carmen on 15 Jan 2009 at 6:06 pm #
I feel your pain. My biochemistry class was taught by a brilliant gentleman from Egypt. We loved his name though—Dr. Tuboob. Clean your ears out, pay attention, and have fun!
Alana on 15 Jan 2009 at 6:58 pm #
John, that’s totally unacceptable. You should complain, unless you don’t want to have to go to class for that time. But if you do care, you should complain. You are paying for that class! (Or someone is.) The professor isn’t doing anyone a favor. He’s doing it for himself.