What I mean by that is I got so fed up and frustrated with a course I am taking I decided to take it upon myself to rip the instructor a new one so to speak. I did it in a very constructive way, but today I really needed to let them know how disappointed I was for some reason. I tried to be as polite as possible, I swear.

Yes, I actually enjoy learning! And when you format a class in such a half-assed way, I’m going to let you know about it.

I have told you all in the past that every once in a while I will get this weird surge of rage that really pushes me to my limits. Most of the time it was due to keppra rage or mood swings from the various AED’s I was on. I’m on klonopin now, and as calm as I have ever been.

But right now i’m in “hold me back” mode.

If anyone is not familiar with how online courses are usually formatted I’ll give you the run down. Usually there are weekly discussions with a prompt that you are expected to answer, and then respond to others in hopes of igniting some deep conversation about the topic. You are expected to interact. Then you have some essays along the way, along with maybe a presentation and a final project with a mid-term exam and a final exam. Usually, there are even weekly quizzes on the topic. Pretty similar to a regular class.

Sounds simple right?

I am taking this class to fulfill a diversity requirement and its a low-level 200 class, so I decided online would be fine. I’ve had some really great online courses, but this one just got to me this week. I’ve also taken another course on this topic previously (and enjoyed it), so I expected this one to be more in-depth. The last one was insightful, and engaging, so much so I actually purchased the books instead of renting them!

Now here is where I start sounding like the “get off my fucking lawn” old person. Who decides it’s ok to assign a book meant to teach us about wonderful Native American cultures and then just give a prompt each week like this (and this is a real prompt from last week):

“Why did the Europeans travel to North America?”

WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK.

By the way, these usually get posted about two days late, the teacher actually sends us emails saying “oops I forgot to post this weeks discussion question.” Also, that’s all we are required to do each week along with writing a “journal” with a weekly summation of what we learned and how we felt. Needless to say, my weekly journals have been full of  very harsh critiques.

I find it unbelievable that a professor can’t be bothered to remember that he has a duty to teach, and that everything about this course is just absolutely half-assed. I actually asked in one of my discussion posts if any one had received a grade yet. And sure enough, he hadn’t been on to moderate and grade. We’re halfway though the semester, and the only thing we hear from this guy is “oops, I forgot”.

Every week I try to sprinkle in a little of my epileptea flair, by not only answering the ridiculous prompts, but by adding information that I think is important from the chapter we’re reading with a bit of an angry undertone to it. I like to shake things up a bit from time to time, just to at least make it interesting.

Sorry about the rant, but for fuck’s sake, I am not about to let some professor decide that any class of students isn’t important enough to teach. This is coming from a place to true frustration. I am finally healthy enough to be back in college pursuing my dream and so grateful. After years of being sick, this is what I come back to. I don’t take my education for granted, and I will get everything I can out of it.

Pretty weird complaint right, a student who wants more homework. Who would have guessed?