A Letter to my College

Dear College,

I am very glad that I can attend you. You of all people things should understand how important a college degree is to succeeding in the real world. I am very grateful for the opportunity to better myself through the acquisition of knowledge and the life skills that will allow me to survive in the real world.

However, I have noticed an alarming trend. Don't take this the wrong way; I'm totally grateful for the opportunities you've given me. It's just, do I really need to learn how to use the library again? I mean, I am a college student now. I can understand teaching us how to use the school's library in Comp 110. It's a first year course, and many of the students who take it are new to the school and system. One would think that by the time I've reached Creative Writing II, I would understand how the system works. I mean, the prerequisites for that class are a C or better in both Comp 110 and Creative Writing I.

As for Comp 111, my goodness. That class doesn't seem to take us seriously at all does it? This is the third hour-and-a-half long class we've spent going over the syllabus. That's four and a half hours, wasted on a three page packet. Do you really think that we all made it through K-12, past your placement tests and through the various Comp classes before this one without learning how to read?

Do you really think I've gotten this far with only the vaguest of understandings of what a research paper is? This may come to a shock to you, but I've written research papers before. Longer papers than the "big final project" the professor has been yammering on about for the past three classes. Seriously, I've gotten more than enough practice writing research papers. I've even written some lit papers before, having had lit classes before this. I think I can handle your silly ten page paper.

You see, when I came to college, I expected to do college level work. Instead I've assigned work that is less difficult than the work I was doing in middle school. I've literally had eighth-grade classes harder than some of your courses. I understand that you're a community college, and that you have to pander to the lowest common denominator. However, if you can't take me and the work you're assigning me seriously I'll just have to go find another college that can.


-Echo