For the sake of yourself

The university is a great arena for loads of things; you might for example be on a dead boring lecture wondering what the hell I’m I doing here? Or you might have a giving discussion about something that actually has something to do with your education (or a less giving discussion about how awful the cheap coffee tastes). Being a student is normally expensive you borrow money every month and you will end up with a nifty load in the region of 250 000 sek (20 000$) it is a respectable amount of money and you really want to make sure that you can start to pay back as soon as possible. My point is that it is of vital importance to you that your education is of high quality and that you as a student make the most of it. You wouldn’t buy a car for 300 000 kr if you know that the tires would fall of after a couple of miles and you would definitely not crash a brand new car into a brick wall… I’m a teacher student at the University of Umeå and there is a debate going on whether our program is good enough. Students are moaning about how rubbish everything is and constantly questioning the different classes they are taking, it could sound like this “oo this sucks why haven’t they removed this course yet?”. Okay I have to admit that there are a couple of things that isn’t as good as it could be. There is, for example a lack of control. It is perfectly possible to go to a seminar in lets say English without having read the book the seminar is about (yeah I know it sound like a joke but it is happening) there is also a need for raised standards. I am of the opinion that students definitely would work harder and see it more as a challenge if some classes were more demanding. But I also think that some students must change their attitudes. You are only fooling yourself if you constantly are looking for short cuts when it is time for a group assignment or group work. You might have an easy time at the university but the short cut may prove to be a detour in the end.