Trivial Matters

One of my biggest fears in class is becoming “that guy.” You know the one. The guy who has to have his imput on everything the instructor says, whether his opinion was asked for or not.

In grade school, “that guy” was known as the “teacher’s pet” because he seemed to be encouraged to speak up (especially if nobody else would). College, however, is completely different. “That guy” is usually wrong, or out of line, and seems to only hinder the learning experience.

There was a “guy” in two my classes last term (and it was the same guy). In one class we were doing a group project, and his group had decided to meet early to go over the presentation. This guy was not only a no-show, but he showed up late for class that day. He then proceeded to volunteer his group to go first on presentation day. (He was late that day too.) And every day leading up to that, in both classes, he was always interjecting about his experiences in the rice paddies of Cambodia (or some such nonsense).

My Thursday night government class has “that guy” too. I haven’t entirely passed judgement on him yet, but I don’t have my hopes up. And I may become “that guy” in my writing class, being the only actual writer. I’ll try my best to refrain from speaking up too much, but we’ll see.

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