Kaitlin Henderson
English 101.07
Leah Stahl
Midterm Essay
Midterm In-class Essay
We are told in high school that once we get to college, we’re one step closer to the
real world. In college, we have to learn how to manage our own money, use our time
wisely, and try much harder than we might have in high school. College, we have been told,
prepares us for the real world ahead of us. But Jacob Neusner in his essay, “The Speech the
Graduates Didn’t Hear,” destroys all of that. He claims that “we have prepared you for a
world that does not exist . . .” and that “It was that we did not want to be bothered . . . It was,
again, to be rid of you” (Neusner 261-262). He says that college professors have spoiled and
placated us during our four years in college, that we are ill-equipped to function in the real
world, and that “we the faculty take no pride in our educational achievements with you”
(Neusner 261). But Neusner is very wrong.
Neusner says we, as college students, have nothing to take pride in. Our educational
achievements mean nothing because all of our grades are just the result of apathetic
professors wishing to not be bothered by teaching us. This is not only untrue, but
downright insulting, both to students and professors. Yes, many college students are lazy
and hand in assignments that don’t deserve recognition. But there are just as many or more
students who work hard and take pride in the work and the assignments that they do. They
show up to class, pay attention and take notes, and study diligently in order to get good
grades. They receive honors, and rightly so, because hard work and the desire to succeed
should be awarded. For Neusner to say, “ . . .here grades have meant little in distinguishing
the excellent from the ordinary” (261), is insulting to all the committed students who strive
for that excellence.
Another group Neusner insults is professors. He says, “ . . .when you were boring, we
acted as if you were saying something important . . . When you were dull, we pretended you
were smart” (Neusner 262). Firstly, if we students are as unprepared for the real world as
he claims, whom does the blame lie with? The professors, who allegedly deceive, coddle,
and spoil us. The professors who let everyone slide through with easy grades because, “we
did not want to be bothered” (Neusner 262). If what he says is true, then these professors
show even less motivation and pride in their work than what he claims the students do!
Professor Carter A. Daniel says in The Chronicle for Higher Education, “We had to do it, for
the sake of education” (Neusner 261). But what is this teaching students?
However, this too can be entirely false. There are probably many professors who are
guilty of Neusners’ claims, just as there are many students. But this overlooks and insults
the numerous professors who do care about their students. Many professors will not and
do not accept late, lazy, or unfinished work if they know it is not the student’s best effort.
There are countless professors who want their students to do the best they can and care
about their students’ success. For Neusner to generalize and say that all professors let
students slide with mediocre work because they don’t care enough to correct them is
insulting to the many dedicated, caring professors who push their students for the
student’s best.
Neusner’s essay is a bitter tirade against lazy students who are clueless as to what to
expect in the real world, written from the perspective of a jaded and uncaring professor.
But the many dedicated and hard-working students that have successful college
experiences and go on to success in the real world prove him wrong, as do the caring
professors who helped the students achieve that.