Yes, I know the title is an onomatopoeia. I promise it wasn’t done on purpose. For some reason, I get the toughest teacher each fall semester, without fail. I don’t know why, but there’s always at least one teacher that makes me grumble each time I enter a class in the fall. 12 paged essays every other weekend with only two days to complete, projects that need to be done with a Harvard level quality (He had a Harvard rubric), hours of outside class research, all for a 100 or 200 level class? If you don’t know what that means, classes at URI are ranked from 100 to 500. 100 and 200 are the easiest, yet with these teachers, it’s on par with the 500 level classes. It stinks, but you’ll thank yourself later for taking the tough teacher, here’s why.
- You’ll get useful skills
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After taking a class as hard as that, all you want to do is erase everything from your memory. Besides, do you really want to recall that time you almost cried from that incredibly hard assignment? But, you end up remembering the skills and hacks that helped you survive the class and it bleeds into the next class that you take as well! Suddenly that 400 level class isn’t that hard since you’ve already perfected your skills and have been through worse.
- You actually remember the content
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It’s impossible to remember every little thing from every class that you’ve taken in college, but somehow the content from the difficult class sticks. After all the teacher did spend countless hours drilling it into your head. Suddenly you become a sort of expert on the content even if you weren’t very interested in it.
- It makes other classes easier
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I couldn’t tell you how much easier the next semester felt after my difficult course. Even if you take more classes that semester, no assignment seems intimidating. Take the following semester to rest and do what you didn’t have time to do when you had a tough teacher. You deserve it!
- You outstand yourself
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When you first joined the class, you didn’t know that you could achieve everything that you’ve achieved that semester. I certainly didn’t! It’s amazing how far you could go when you’re pushed beyond your limitations. Don’t forget that course, instead, let it remind you that you are unstoppable and capable of anything!
There’s a reason you never forget these teachers and it’s not only because they made you cry from that 62 you received on the first homework assignment. Tough teachers are passionate and have a vision of excellence for each student in the class.