In today’s society, adults are expected to be respectful to one another, showing a higher level of maturity than adolescents. Even though the vast majority of students on this campus are adults, it really doesn’t show. Unfortunately, much of the problem lies in first-year students and their inability to grow up and remove themselves from the mentality of being in high school. So listen up, freshmen: Here’s some advice on how to better the process of acting like an actual adult.
When required to attend a lecture or meeting, as boring as it may be, sit down and shut up. Show respect to the speaker and those around you by refraining from engaging in irrelevant conversation. This means the annoying boasts of how drunk you were last night or what you do and do not remember must wait until afterward. It’s not common for people to be excited about jury duty, but they sit in the courtroom and do it anyway. But while the prosecution questions its witness, do you ever hear jurors raising their voices, exclaiming how utterly bored they are? Didn’t think so. Not all lectures are interesting, especially if one is forced to attend, but be courteous and don’t talk over the speaker. The same rules apply while in the classroom.
If you’re looking to make friends in class, don’t be the guy who thinks he’s a comedic genius, issuing annoying one-liners every 30 seconds. This trend seems to manifest itself among first years who were always considered the class clown in high school. It might have been acceptable in the days of worrying about driver’s education and getting into R-rated movies – at least back then people mistook your immaturity for actually being clever. This university does not have the time or patience for students who are inconsiderate and rude in class. For those who can’t fully suppress their sudden urge to barrage fellow students with unfunny wisecracks, please try and limit it to once per class (even that’s pushing it).
As inane as it is to have to tell legal adults to stop acting like 15-year-old children, it seems as if it’s the only way to get it through their thick skulls. That’s not to say that there won’t be times when it’s perfectly acceptable to act like a 15 year old; having fun is part of college life. However, when it comes to showing courtesy to faculty, staff and fellow students when it truly counts, take some initiative to grow up.
