The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Surviving WMU Professors One Class At a Time

Students and professors have always had strange relationships. I’ve had good ones and bad ones, and some in between. Some classes went better than others, and my class participation varies from class to class. Sometimes I’m labeled as quiet or shy, others I am the one raising my hand and starting discussions or debates. Usually the more enthusiastic and passionate the professors are the more I got involved.

One of the strangest classes I’ve had so far at Western Michigan University was an upper fiction writing class, the last one for my major. I took this class after multiple writing workshops and thought it would be a breeze and something fun.

I was wrong.

I was whipped into shape when the professor tore apart my 20 page story, and told me to keep the first two pages. She was more than a harsh critique. She ended up having our final class in her home and bought us pizza and wine. She wanted to push us further. I can’t say I did my best writing in her class, but she pushed me, which I really appreciated.

Last semester I decided to take my last math class, finite. I was not looking forward to this at all especially because math is a subject that I’ve always struggled with. Fortunately I was able to talk my roommate into taking the class with me, hoping that if I had an ally in this battle I’d do better.

The class was difficult for me ,and the homework was more than excessive and monotonous, but the professor was extremely helpful. At first I thought he was stiff, saying things like, “oh sugar” and “fiddlesticks” but as the semester progressed he came out of his shell.

He would open class with a joke, and use funny examples to go along with his lesson plan. One of my favorites was his Venn diagram examples. He had two circles drawn, neither connecting. One was labeled “fun”, the other circle was labeled “wearing pants”. He showed about 8 other hilarious examples that he had found on the internet or other random places. His examples always stuck with me.

Not every professor has been interesting. I’ve had tough graders, PowerPoint lovers, lecture only, tricky test givers, boring story teachers, and some professor’s who are not interested in conversations interruptions or challenges.

I have to say that all my time at WMU, which has been almost four years, the worst combination of all the negative attributes I have ever seen in professor’s, is one that I have this semester. This class has nothing to do with my major or minor, I took it because I thought it would be interesting, but it’s not. This teacher tells too many personal stories to the class . This wouldn’t be too bad-- if the class wasn’t three hours long. Don’t get me wrong, I love hearing stories, but it gets a little old after about 40 minutes. This would have been manageable for a semester IF it was the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that this professor has only given us one test, a midterm, and it wasn’t anything like the study guide, lectures, or her random stories. However, she is a good person, and seems to care about what she’s teaching.

WMU is full of professors with all different personalities. Sometimes you get lucky and get a great professor, and other times, well, not so lucky. To help narrow down your choices, and find those really great classes, ask your friends what they would recommend.

If you’ve had really good or bad experiences, and want a place to vent, or let out steam, or if you’re curious about a new professor, check http://ratemyprofessors.com/ and find your WMU professor’s rating, easiness, helpfulness, clarity, quality, and “hotness total”.