Seriously: CSU unfairly punishes students who don’t care about school

Seriously%3A+CSU+unfairly+punishes+students+who+dont+care+about+school

Collegian | Trin Bonner

Aaron Peck, Staff Reporter

Editor’s Note: This is a satire piece from The Collegian’s opinion section. Real names and the events surrounding them may be used in fictitious/semi-fictitious ways. Those who do not read the editor’s notes are subject to being offended.

College is a place where many people go to expand their worldview, learn new skills and increase their chances of success. For others, college provides them with their first taste of freedom.

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Most people also argue college is supposed to be a space for higher education where all people can come for the possibility of a better future. However, a disturbing pattern is apparent in almost every school in the country, leaving some students disappointed with their college experience.

Shocking reports have recently been released stating that students who hate school and do not care about their major perform significantly worse in their courses than their peers who do care. In addition, students who think school is a boring waste of time receive fewer degrees and have fewer prospects when entering the job market. 

I know what some of you might be thinking: This could not possibly be true, and the reports must be fake. There is no way our education system could be flawed so badly that it harms a group of students. Well, I regret to inform you that it is in fact true. Where do we go from here? 

Enough is enough, and it is time to take a stand and acknowledge that colleges, including Colorado State University, are treating many of their students unfairly. The preferential treatment of motivated and proactive students by the university and its professors reveals a systemic flaw in our school.

The blatant favoritism CSU demonstrates toward harder-working, more intelligent students by giving them better grades and more awards makes me sick. The fact that CSU still uses a grading system that measures accuracy and completeness to evaluate student performance is barbaric.

Should the student who sleeps through class or goes to a concert instead of writing their paper be given a worse grade simply because they wanted the true college experience?

Is it wrong to down a 30-pack of Natural Lights on a random Tuesday afternoon in the middle of February with your friends? 

“If grades did not matter, fewer students would drop out, and schools could keep collecting all those tuition payments. Colleges need to learn that many of us are not here to do school and should not be punished just because we do not want to complete our assignments or attend class.”

The judgmental narrative surrounding college students who want to smoke half a dozen blunts and binge-watch every season of “The Office” rather than read a short chapter in the textbook needs to change. These students are not lazy, selfish, stupid or entitled — they simply do not care about school, and that is alright.  

Everybody knows the main attraction of college is the vibrant party life, so students who make the most of this opportunity do not deserve less than their more disciplined counterparts. It’s unfathomable that CSU continues to penalize so much of its student population. 

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In fact, CSU should promote a more self-indulgent, pleasure-seeking lifestyle because it will attract more students. More students mean more people to charge for books, parking passes and anything else the university wants.

Instead of looking at us as students, CSU should view us as the endless money pots we clearly are. At the end of the day, if the tuition check clears, why does CSU even care if we decide to pass or not? 

If grades did not matter, fewer students would drop out, and schools could keep collecting all those tuition payments. Colleges need to learn that many of us are not here to do school and should not be punished just because we do not want to complete our assignments or attend class. 

These are the conversations we need to be having and the questions we need to be asking. 

I am willing to stand up — are you?

Reach Aaron Peck at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @Aa_peck7.