Message to My Freshman Students,” Keith Parsons shares his thoughts about freshman in college and their transition from high school to college. Parsons argues that freshman need to take it upon themselves to learn in class and not expect him nor any other professor to hold their hand through this transition. Parsons says that before college, teacher’s job is to make sure that the students learn, but it is not a professor’s job to make you learn. He says that he gets paid either way and it is the student’s responsibility to understand what is taught in class.
At the very beginning of Parsons Blog post he says, “I had been told that my freshman students would be apathetic, incurious, inattentive, unresponsive, and frequently absent,” which already gives me the impression that Parsons is not supportive of helping freshman and their transition into college. Even though he says that college is a time for students to grow and mature, I believe that the professor should be one to encourage us in such a huge transition. Personally I am someone that is good with change but still needs a little encouragement from someone that I look up tp. Being in a new setting can be hard for some students and without their family being here with them can make it even harder, and that’s why I think professors should be a sort of mentor for us.
When Parson says that it is not his job to make sure that we learn, that he “gets paid either way”, makes me wonder why he would want to teach. My grandma is a teacher and has taught for around forty years, she says that she teaches to watch kids grow and learn something that they wouldn’t know unless she was teaching them. My grandma also says that one of the most special moments for her at the end of the year is seeing her students go to the next grade being successful in that past year with her. My point is that professors, even though they are not in the same exact atmosphere as teachers, they should want us to be successful whether they get paid if we do or not. College students pay thousands of dollars to get the degree they want. If the professor does not care if you succeed or not, why should we as college students, need to pay so much money. He might get paid either way, but we can not choose whether or not we pay to go.
On the contrary, I agree with Parsons and his take about growing up. As freshman, we do need to learn to be independent and to be adults and not treated like children. Growing up, my parents have taught me to be independent with certain situations, but not just throw me out to do it on my own. I think that since Parson hasn’t taught a freshman class in a while, he doesn’t remember how big of a time this is for freshman and their growing up.
Even though I agree with some of Parsons Argument, I do believe that Parsons and other professors should help in the transition from high school to college. Students should be encouraged to do well so we can have the confidence to do well and succeed as college students.
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At the very beginning of Parsons Blog post he says, “I had been told that my freshman students would be apathetic, incurious, inattentive, unresponsive, and frequently absent,” which already gives me the impression that Parsons is not supportive of helping freshman and their transition into college. Even though he says that college is a time for students to grow and mature, I believe that the professor should be one to encourage us in such a huge transition. Personally I am someone that is good with change but still needs a little encouragement from someone that I look up tp. Being in a new setting can be hard for some students and without their family being here with them can make it even harder, and that’s why I think professors should be a sort of mentor for us.
When Parson says that it is not his job to make sure that we learn, that he “gets paid either way”, makes me wonder why he would want to teach. My grandma is a teacher and has taught for around forty years, she says that she teaches to watch kids grow and learn something that they wouldn’t know unless she was teaching them. My grandma also says that one of the most special moments for her at the end of the year is seeing her students go to the next grade being successful in that past year with her. My point is that professors, even though they are not in the same exact atmosphere as teachers, they should want us to be successful whether they get paid if we do or not. College students pay thousands of dollars to get the degree they want. If the professor does not care if you succeed or not, why should we as college students, need to pay so much money. He might get paid either way, but we can not choose whether or not we pay to go.
On the contrary, I agree with Parsons and his take about growing up. As freshman, we do need to learn to be independent and to be adults and not treated like children. Growing up, my parents have taught me to be independent with certain situations, but not just throw me out to do it on my own. I think that since Parson hasn’t taught a freshman class in a while, he doesn’t remember how big of a time this is for freshman and their growing up.
Even though I agree with some of Parsons Argument, I do believe that Parsons and other professors should help in the transition from high school to college. Students should be encouraged to do well so we can have the confidence to do well and succeed as college students.