Chapter 7 Summarizer Liz Diede

In chapter 7, Nathan addresses the things that she learned personally from her experience as a freshman at AnyU. She describes how most professors don’t know what a dorm room looks like, and do not know what the cost of housing, books, or tuition is at their university (Nathan 134). Nathan explains that it is easy for professors to see students are irresponsible for not coming in for help during office hours because they do not know what the typical schedule of a college undergraduate is like. Nathan describes a new understanding for college freshman, and as she enters her role as a professor once again, she even makes a few changes to her syllabus to accommodate for these needs. She understands that students are less likely to read articles that they wont be tested on, and she realizes that in the time between her two lectures, students may have four other classes to prepare for, while she only has one. This realization may increase the respect that she has for her students and also cause her to be less surprised when some students come to class without doing the assigned readings. One section of this chapter that was interesting to me was when Nathan addresses the subject of student finances. Nathan acknowledges that students today are poorer than students of the past (Nathan 150). She also states that since this is true, many students are forced to work and go to school at the same time, which decreases the amount of time for studying that each student has each week. This has a great impact on student grades and performance levels and is something that I think needs to be addressed in today’s society.

Nathan’s tone in chapter 7 is acceptance of the student culture that she once knew hardly anything about. Nathan expresses awareness that the role of student-teacher relationships is not as important as she once thought it was. She also explains that she wishes that students could understand the role of a professor (Nathan 145). She writes, “That their silence in class can make an enthusiastic professor lose his energy and a new teacher doubt her abilities; or that finding a student cheating is not a triumphant moment”. This paragraph was interesting to me, because in my opinion, a lot of students don’t realize the effect that their behavior in class has on the professor. Although Nathan has gained a lot of knowledge about the undergraduate culture, she still makes a valid point in saying that students do not understand what it is like to be a professor at a university.