An ongoing senior moment.

Maude here.

As I mentioned in my post, “My teacher has mashed potato brains,” my current anthropology instructor leaves something to be desired. (This may be the understatement of the century.)

I’ve deemed her teaching style “an ongoing senior moment” because bless her decrepit heart, she’s old as Methuselah. And I love old people much more than youths, so this should detail what a wretch this instructor truly is. Not only does this woman stray far beyond acceptable topics for a Cultural Anthropology class, she finds clever new ways to waste time and tuition.

I cannot believe I’m paying a woman to show up to class late, hold the students back in class 10-15 minutes after class time is over, and rant endlessly about Chicano Studies (the other class she attempts to teach, but feels is relevant to ALL subjects in our basic Anthro textbook.) I wish this was a bad dream or a fabricated story. This is community college at its very worst.

Not only are her “lesson plans” ADHD in nature, but she actually pensively paused during the last class for 2 minutes before beginning again and said, “I maced a Cuban once.” Of course, this was just another one of her famous senior moments before she launched into another “cultural” discussion on her time as a prison guard. We didn’t have anything in our chapter about prison culture, so I assumed this was another opportunity for her to teach Chicano Studies in Anthropology. (Half of the time, she doesn’t even know where she is.)

So I’m sure any readers are questioning (as I am) how this old trollop has a job teaching other humans. Well, luckily for all of us, this came up in class! I’ll never forget when she said, “Several of my peers told me that I shouldn’t have a PhD. I showed them! Now, while they’re doctors, they also have to call ME Dr.!” Ah, yes… someone actually gave this ongoing brain-fart a higher degree, reserved for the academically elite. Again, this is real life. This is actually someone in a college-level teaching position (albeit a community college, but still)…

Just my two cents — if your academic peers suggest that you aren’t ready to be a PhD candidate and they go as far as trying to impede your certification with the institution you’re receiving your degree from, you may want to put your ego aside and perhaps be introspective enough to think about WHY they’re suggesting such a thing. It’s not because they don’t like you… it’s because in some way, it’s offensive that you are at the same level of academia as they are. In this case, the instructor of my Anthropology class is not at all a worthy candidate to be teaching anything other than clown college.

You may find my sentiment to be harsh, but c’mon… I’m paying $50 per class to sit there and be taught false facts (see other blog post), to be judged for being pretty, and to watch as my male counterparts are being annihilated with horrendous stereotypes. This teacher has OPENLY complained in class that she has been up in front of the review board for her behavior before, and yet was able to keep her teaching position. There are far more people better qualified for this position who would actually stick with the course work intended for this class. You don’t even have to be an interesting person to teach from the textbook — you just need to TEACH IT. If students are paying for college, they’d better get what they pay for between the $250 textbook and the $400 in-state class tuition.

Of course I’ll be complaining to the institution. This sort of flagrant disregard for education is criminal.