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Notes of a Debtor
On the importance of teachers and a proper education
I never graduated from college but I did go for 2 years during which I acquired some student loan debt. I was planning on getting an English degree. How original, I know. I figured I’d be a teacher and a writer. This was 20 years ago. I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t fit into the academic community. I didn’t like the classrooms, I didn’t like the florescent lights, I didn’t like sitting in those chairs, whether in lines or in circles, I didn’t like the forced “togetherness,” I didn’t like the power point presentations, I didn’t like the pretentiousness, I didn’t like “bar row” and Frog-n-Firkin, I didn’t like filling out those little ovals on the scantron tests, I didn’t like the way the frat boys played frisbee on the grassy commons.
Most of all I didn’t like the teachers. I hadn’t liked them in high school either, being a mix of sadomasochists, perverts and bloated monotoned goons. In college they were thinner and healthier, dressed a little better and had more of an attitude about how important they were. They seemed to have the easiest jobs in the world. They didn’t so much teach, as recite from text and show pre-made visuals. It all seemed like a joke to me. Nothing was happening, no one was learning anything except how to jump through hoops and say nice, empty things. Nothing was being…
