Choosing Wisely

After listening to the teacher ramble on this evening about the most elementary of chemistry topics (did you know that atoms are made of three components?!) I was thinking of the rest of my past professors. Pretty much all of them were truly great, and one was mind-blowingly awesome- actually taught me how to understand and *really like* organic chemistry. But the reason I have few horror stories about professors is because I pick my classes by their online reviews.

Case in point- I was doing some last-minute registration for biology classes and I didn't think to read the reviews before registering. As a pre-med, loving biology is part of my DNA, so I wasn't too worried about getting a poor biology teacher. Big mistake.

On the first day of class this professor talked about nothing except... himself. "Me, me, mee.... and I've done this... and that... I'm the best teacher you've ever had... memememememe... no one teaches better than me... meeee, meeeeeeeee, MMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" He would launch into personal stories at the drop of a hat, telling us how he met Lance Armstrong, owned a luxury home in the mountains, and again, how lucky all of us were to be basking in the presence of him, an actual demi-god of higher education.

At the end of class I tried to talk to him about the rigors of the class, to see if I would be over-extending myself that quarter. I was planning on asking about tests, homeworks, the final, and practicals. I say planned on asking because I never had a chance to get a word in edgewise. I started the conversation with, "Can you explain the schedule for the tests?" and yet when it left my mouth it must have sounded like, "Can you explain again and again why you're such an awesome teacher? I need more validation and examples, please." Somewhere between listening to how the dean of the college was a fool for not making him head of the department after two years of teaching and how he created the best non-credit program in the history of the school, I decided I could not take this tool's class. I dropped it while walking to my car.

I checked the online reviews later that evening, and found one low review after another about how he talks constantly about himself, flirts with the young girls (!) and fails to cover all the material required. Considering his class was physiology and biochem, I kind of think that's important to know.