Bowling, Emily: Beloit List

The generation gap has grown. With all the advances in technology people are living much longer. Women also have started having children later in life. There are several generations alive at one time and the differences between them have gotten harder and harder to mend.

In many larger colleges classes are normally taught by graduate assistants. Professors whose names are on the schedule spend most of their time performing research or getting grants for the college. Students may go through a whole semester and never see their professor. Many of these professors remember a time when the average grade a student got was a “C." Instead many students now believe an “A” is the only satisfactory letter grade. Many students stress to get an “A,” but normally do not put in all the effort to truly deserve that high of a grade.

Many professors remember a time when sports were not the reason why many came to college. One professor, who has been teaching for a decade, remembers when living a nice life did not require making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Professors remember when coaches were not getting paid million-dollar salaries. Back then, students actually decided what school they wanted to attend by its educational reputation instead of its football team. Football games took place on campus and were rarely on TV. Students didn’t spend hours before games tailgating to prepare for a game. Many professors still think that “tailgating” means students were following too closely behind another car.

There was a time when students did not have so many distractions. Students used pens and notepads to take notes instead of using laptops or portable tablets. Professors used to get on to their students’ for passing notes in class. Now professors have to deal with students’ addiction to texting. Students constantly surround themselves with technology that, at times, distracts them from being fully engaged in lectures Professors used to hand out assignments in hard copy, now they have to adjust to a technology-savvy world. Professors are now using the Internet and blogs to post their notes and homework. Professors have to adapt to all the new technology to keep their students’ attention and to keep up in this fast changing world.

Today, the world is so fast paced that students are used to everything being urgent or an emergency. Many professors have more of a procrastinator’s mindset. They do not get in a big hurry to reply to students emails even if they are marked “urgent”.  They were raised in a simpler, slower time.

I believe that sometimes the generation gap can help students’ education. They can learn many valuable things from older professors, who are so wise and have so much to offer to educational programs. They can teach students to appreciate their own era and our personal gifts. Students should learn to appreciate the age differences between themselves and the professors and be open to what professors can teach them.