Class lessons

If you are soon to be in college (or even if you are in college), I have compiled some things that you should NOT do in your classes because it pisses people off.

1. Don't ask questions.
When there are ten minutes left in class and the professor says, "Well, that's all I have. Anybody have any questions?" the answer is always no. No, you do not have any questions, because now you have ten extra minutes. You don't have to run across campus to your next class! You can leisurely walk there! Or if you're starving, you can grab a quick snack. If you do legitimately have a question, avoid angry stares and exasperated sighs from your frustrated peers by asking the professor after he lets everybody else go. We would all be thankful for that.

2. Don't be an asshole.
No one likes a pretentious jerk. Are you in a music class and you think you know everything because you've played piano your whole life? A: You don't know everything, and B: If you do, keep it to yourself. No one is impressed if you know what key that Mozart piece is in. Aside from maybe your piano teacher. Who probably isn't in class with you.

3. Don't randomly change seats.
Not having assigned seats doesn't mean that everyone sits in a different place every day. This is not musical chairs. You usually pick where you're going to sit for the whole semester on the first day. If you have some friends in one of your classes and like to sit with them, it is quite annoying to come in and see that some of those seats are taken by randos and poor Mary has to sit on the other side of the room. Sit in the seat you usually sit in, dammit, and Mary will be happy and so will everyone else.

4. Fulfill stereotypes.
There's a reason that kids who don't give a shit usually sit in the back. Because for the people who are trying to stay engaged and sitting closer to the front, if someone who isn't paying attention is sitting in front of them, it's super distracting. For example, in my stats class last semester, I remember learning a lot about one of my fellow students through her Internet surfing because the brightness of her laptop screen was directly in my line of vision. She likes to buy her clothes at Urban Outfitters. She facebook stalks people. Which I guess everyone does, but it's creepy to actually watch someone do it....and she's in a sorority (based on her background photo and the weird hand signs all the girls were doing. Or maybe she's in a gang). I do not, however, remember learning a lot in class that day.

Perhaps I'll make a list of "Do's" too...although those aren't nearly as fun to rant about...