I seriously dislike institutions. As much as society has persuaded me to follow many of its conventional standards, it seems I cannot avoid the infrastructures, scheduling and bureaucracies of this institution of learning that is Penn State. Against my resistance I have found some of the positive aspects of what this place can offer. That is namely the acquisition of knowledge.

To do this one must be aware and attentive of the relationship of a student to a teacher, or specifically the role of the teacher.

Sure, the fact that our teachers are working for the Man is a huge minus point.

But really, they are human and mainly present to help you, and this is something that is frequently unaccounted for.

Now I can't go on with my defense for teachers without admitting that not all teachers deserve the kind of treatment I am advocating. There are some who are truly slime balls and only care about administering your grade. In these cases, I hope they feel terrible about wasting our money and time. Most of all, I hope they feel wretched about expending perfectly good paper to write their crappy books that they make us buy.

Anyway, teachers are more than just teachers.

Along with their work in the classroom, many teachers are required to be academic advisors, authors of good books, and sometimes tour guides in their department.

So, no, the myth isn't true.

Teachers do not conspire together so that they can assign everything at once, making your life a nightmare. They have many tasks throughout their day; class time is only a small portion of it.

Speaking of, compiling a good class takes a great deal of work as it is. Most teachers make the knowledge seem so seamless, like it's continually fresh in their brains.

Also it's magical how many are such good speakers, but in reality, this takes a lot of practice. I have talked to many who said that they spend anywhere from 9- 20 hours in preparation of each class.

This would be like writing a 40-page paper (two pages an hour) every single class time, so that many students can simply sleep.

Thus, think about your assignments in comparison to theirs, and suddenly, they don't seem so bad.

Furthermore, they bear the weight of being a friend and a professional. Many serve as mentors for their students, or maybe assist them during some extenuating circumstance.

Yet, students are extremely critical when a teacher might display such vulnerability. If a teacher has to cancel a class or seems like they are having a bad day, many people act as if they're so inconvenienced by this.

So overall, if teachers are any less than Renaissance men and women, they go under-appreciated.

Who does this harm the most?

I believe that we mostly suffer. For having a good teacher and knowing that you have a good teacher is what will enhance your experience. What's more, it could promote the pursuit of knowledge in that you comprehend the need to give and take in the teaching and learning process. Assessing these things can benefit you, your class, and this school.

In the event, you feel your teacher is doing a poor job, you have the power to do something about it. At the end of the semester, (most of you have probably recently run across this) you are given the opportunity to evaluate the teacher.

This is your time to offer constructive criticism, if necessary.

So often, I spend an entire semester listening to students complain about how a teacher cannot effectively communicate because they have not mastered English, how he or she spends too much time lecturing, or how students feel they are not learning at all. The list goes on.

However, it seems that students do not take advantage of their power. When teacher evaluations come around, they use them as an excuse to bolt out of class early.

This is a shame, considering non-professors get to retain their job based on these evaluations.

Therefore, if you haven't had the opportunity to take part in these, use them to give your teacher the credit they deserve, or the criticism they may need.

In the end, you are paying their salary so that somewhere in your crazy college life, you can get an education.