By Josh Haywood
Contributing Writer
We have all been in class working away when “that guy” does something so annoying that you want to scream at the top of your lungs. Being at an institution for higher learning, it would be easy to assume that students follow certain rules of etiquette. Sadly, this is not the case at the University. This is a composite of the three most annoying things students do in class and how to self-alleviate the pain of looking like a fool, which we all are guilty of at one time or another.
First up is arriving to class late. This is possibly the most annoying failure of classroom etiquette. I can justify being four or five minutes late, but that is where tardiness is cut off. When you are rolling in 10 or 15 minutes late, you might as well not even come to class at all. Do you think you are Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell and can sneak past 20 other students without being noticed? It is extremely rude to arrive this late; I would even go to the extent to say that flipping the professor the bird is more polite than coming in as such. What are you going to do when you have a real job outside the “Bucknell Bubble”? Excusing yourself by saying “my bad” won’t cut you a break in the real world.
The next issue is strictly generational: cell phone use during class. What would you say if your professor just whipped out his or her phone and started texting President Bravman asking which he likes better, Lin-Sanity or TebowMania? It is honestly a dead giveaway that you are texting if you are looking down at your crotch smiling like it told you a good joke. You do not need to be checking Facebook to see if that random girl you poked at 3 a.m. last Friday has poked you back. Just leave the cell phones in your pocket or—better yet—your bag.
The third classroom annoyance is talking to your friends during class, specifically whispering. I seriously doubt that you cannot wait until after class to discuss which fraternity is throwing down this weekend. Whispering is the absolute worst as it accomplishes the total opposite of what it is meant to do; instead of a private conversation, it is as if you are giving a public service announcement. Ladies, we do not care what type of rain boots you just bought. Men, we do not care that you just bought a sick pair of vintage Sperrys. Sit down, shut up and take notes; it’s simple as that.
Hopefully you will be able to pass this knowledge on to your fellow friends and classmates, because obviously they are lacking in this area. Go to class prepared, sit in the first three rows—not the back row with all the other people who went to the bar last night—and pay attention. For all you know you might learn a thing or two.