Unless your name is Steve Urkel, it can be difficult to enjoy every single minute of a class. That challenge can become even more difficult when your learning environment is infiltrated by various distractions — usually caused by other people. Granted, most professors mandate professionalism in the classrooms, however, there’s always a few noisemakers and aggravators who slip through the cracks.
Here are the 7 typical annoying classmates and the habits that declare them as a “persona non grata.”
The Hulu Guru: This sly cat takes slacking off to a whole new level. This TV addict likes to catch up on the latest Kardashian episode or check out last night’s sports replays on his laptop. Most of the time he sets up camp in the very back row, which still doesn’t fool anyone — we can see the changing lights reflected on your face! However, every now and then, this person will become trapped in one of the
lower rows and now you’re a member of the audience. Perhaps you’ll get lucky and discover that you and the Hulu Guru actually have similar taste. (Too bad catching up on the latest Parks & Recreation episode won’t improve your grade at all).
Late Larry: Ok, so we’ve probably all been this guy before — when some of us are simply just running late. For Late Larry, he’s the guy who’s late to class about 20-30 minutes EVERYTIME. He’s so accustomed to his tardiness that he’s completely un-phased by awkward looks from dozens of strangers. What’s worse is that he strolls in like it’s totally normal and doesn’t even bother just slipping in unnoticed.
Curious George: This person might win the award for most annoying. Sometimes he’s just super curious about every single thing coming out of the professor’s mouth. Other times, this person is just as dense as a rock and no information is being processed. The most frustrating moment is when this person asks a question that the professor literally just answered. Congrats, you just royally embarrassed yourself. Here’s the answer to your problem: PAY ATTENTION!
Slow-Hand Sue: It’s nice to see when a student genuinely cares about a class and strives to do well. This person ferociously takes notes as if her life depended on it. But If you sit next to this person, you’ve just become her new best friend. Slow-Hand Sue will now turn to you every time she misses a fraction of a sentence — which seems to happen about every other minute. And because you’re busy answering her question, you both miss the next key point to write down. It’s a vicious cycle, so remember you don’t need to record every single “um” and “uhh” that the professor says.
Narcoleptic Nick: You know who this person is, in fact there are probably several in just one class. We’re talking about the snoozers. The kid who walks in and immediately put his head down once the professor starts talking. Ok, you may have been up all night working on a project or raging at TOTS, whatever the reason is for your exhaustion, it is absolutely no excuse to make sleeping in class ok. It’s
just plain rude, especially towards the professor. Frankly, it’s surprising you aren’t kicked out of class more often. Someone out there is paying for your education and here you are sleeping right through it. If you really need more sleepy time, please just stay at home. We didn’t come to class to watch you drool and hear you snore.
Hungry Hector: Everyone can relate to the pains of hunger during class. Most likely everyone has gotten their snack on during a lecture — which is totally cool. Indeed, college students are crunched for time but that doesn’t mean you can turn your philosophy class into lunchtime and feast on a 3-course meal from Chick-fil-A. If you really just gotta have it…back seat row bro.
Lord Sniffles/Lady Coughs-a-lot: First of all, you do get the most (if not only) sympathy out of this whole list. We know you’re trying, you’re probably trying your best to suppress your coughs and sneezes. But you guys are sicker than dogs and you all need to get to Schiffert ASAP. In this case it is acceptable to miss a class — it’s not a Coldplay concert. Professors don’t want you to risk infecting their class. The worst is exam time, when the room is dead silent and there is someone coughing every second. There really needs to be a quarantined room for those who are ill. We don’t mean to be insensitive but hearing you hack up a lung during this test is pretty distracting.