In the midst of studying for an economics exam which has turned into a battle to stay away from the candy bowl in the common area, I have decided that I don't like my economics professor at all, not even just a little bit. In the beginning of the semester and up until this fateful evening I held onto the notion that even though I did not like the man's teaching style, I still respected him as a person. Well, that good will is no more.

I do not like the economy. I realize the benefits of learning about it but nonetheless fail to find interest in charts and GDP. I do not like lecture classes because it prohibits me from asking questions, and left to my own devices, I ask a lot of questions. My face probably strikes fear and annoyance in those who share smaller classes with me, as I tend not to let it go till I understand it. My parents pay good money for tuition, so why should I let a professor do a half-assed job in explaining material which will affect my grade in that class which in turn affects my GPA and consequently my entire life? I know, I know, grades aren't everything, but they're a lot of things, and being that I don't have rich parents to suckle off of or connections to schmooze with, I need to maintain good grades. Anyway, said professor does not know how to teach. Teaching consists of more than standing in front of a room and flapping your jaws for an hour and fifteen minutes. Teaching is more than presenting concepts from the textbook in an excruciatingly dry and mind-numbing fashion. Professor M. does not realize that no one cares what he has to say. His notes are next to impossible to read. His voice trails off midsentence, leaving the student straining and guessing as to what it is he just said. He compiled a "study guide" for our test tomorrow--and I use the term loosely because his idea of a study guide is printing out all of his notes, stapling them together and handing them out. To a class of over 200 people. So not only did he unnecessarily slaughter God knows how many trees but he did it for no reason. I took notes in his class, so what good does a packet of notes I've already taken do for me? A real study guide has topics to concentrate on, tips to remember and all that lovely stuff.

I'm not opposed to working hard for my grade, I just hate this class and the method by which my professor teaches. I can tell the man spent his college days partying,then married some nagging woman who, as they creep into old age together, is beginning to drive him off the deep end and the only solace he finds is in knowing he can retire in a year or two. But in the meantime, he has to teach some silly economics to a bunch of warm bodies who must have no desire to be in an engaging and worthwhile class.

I asked him for a tutor one day and he reluctantly gave me an email address that lo and behold, did not work. His advice to me: "Read the book and take notes." Thanks, asshole. Don't you think I've been doing that and it hasn't worked, hence why I'm seeking a tutor? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I cannot learn everything by means of textbook, that maybe I need a human being to, dare I say it, explain something to me and entertain my questions? Oh I forgot, don't I pay your salary?

I have given up. I will study, I will read the book, I will take notes and it all will be futile, but I have another month or so of stumbling through graphs and then I'll never have to see his wrinkled face and shiny head again.