Christie Margaris
Staff Writer
Often times, I feel as though gathering the energy to go to class is pretty agonizing in itself. So sure, maybe the last thing I want to do is mentally prepare myself for the next 75 minutes of utter boredom while an overly enthusiastic political science major reminds us to register to vote.
Yes, class announcements seem annoying at times. This is especially the case when the people giving them have brought the subject to our attention about a million times. But truthfully, there are much, much worse things in the world. I’m not even addressing those who think announcements are a waste of valuable class time (I’ll get to you guys later). I’m talking about the disrespect and disinterest of the student population in general. From what I have observed, students often don’t feel the need to give any attention to these speakers for whatever reason.
I find that quite rude. You have to give them some respect for getting up in front of 300 students and relaying whatever information their supervisor has asked them to. I know for a fact, that if it was me up there, the last thing I would want is people loudly holding conversations, staring at their fingernails or whatever else they can possibly do to show they absolutely don’t care about what I’m talking about. I mean you might as well start throwing the tomatoes my way.
“Honestly, I just don’t have the attention span for it. Have I ever heard an announcement that has captured my interest? I can’t say that I have,” said third-year global studies major Ashley Good.
Okay, fine. So maybe you gave them a chance freshmen year and have no tolerance for them anymore. I can understand that. But believe it or not, sometimes the occasional student gets something out of hearing these announcements. The least you could do is keep your voice down while they try to hear what is going on.
Another thing I don’t quite understand: I frequently find myself hearing complaints from those overachieving students who love going to class (I call them nerds) that announcements take up too much of their precious class time. Really? An announcement that lasts for about a minute is that much of an inconvenience for you? Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed every day of your life. Please focus your whining on a more noteworthy cause.
By the way, who doesn’t like disruptions every now and then, especially during your most dreadful classes? Let me tell you something, in high school, I was that girl-the one who was constantly eyeing the clock, hoping teachers’ announcements would take up a considerable portion of “learning time.” So maybe I wasn’t the best student; that is not the point I’m trying to make here. All I’m trying to say is I don’t mind the occasional distraction. In fact, I tend to embrace it. And let me assure you, I’m not the only one.
“Announcements are fine by me. I’d give anything to put off my English professor’s lecture, even if it is only three minutes tops,” said second-year psychology major Robert Enriquez.
“Yeah, I’ll admit that I’m not super invested in what they all have to say. But at the end of the day, is it really that big of a deal? No. I think I’ll live,” added first-year communications major Caleb Davies.