As much as we all wish it was, college is not all about the fun. We are here to take classes and actually learn so that in a few short years we can get a real career. Classes are all about lectures and doing assignments; that’s just how college works, but some assignments really are just a huge pain in the ass.
1. Online discussion posts/ blog posts
These really top the list of awfulness. Going online and posting your response to a stupid question where your whole class can see what you are writing is so dumb. Plus it feels so judge-y. To make matters worse, professors love to require that you comment on your peers’ posts. So then you are forced to leave the typical “good ideas, I totally agree!” response. It is all just so awkward and a waste of time.
2. Any group assignment
No one is ever going to not complain about group work. It is just miserable. You always end up in groups with people from your class that you don’t even know. Then you have to meet up during free time which no one can ever agree on. There is always the one useless group member. I rather just do assignments on my own than have to figure it out with people you don’t want to talk to.
3. Poster projects
I thought this would be one of those things we left behind in high school, but no. It is such an annoyance to get all the materials and actually make the poster, never mind pay for all of that. Like as a poor college student I’m not trying to waste money on a poster that I am going to use once and then throw out. Plus the project also generally includes a poster session where the whole class presents for people who come so see posters that they don’t care about. Such a useless assignment.
4. Giant research papers
Obviously research papers are quintessential to college and probably the most common assignment, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a pain in the ass. Choosing a topic, researching, writing 20 pages in the correct format with perfect grammar and just enough kiss-ass-ness added in so that the professor will like it; it’s stressful.
5. Reflections or journal responses
These are like assignments about other assignments. Tell me why I need to write a whole second 2 page paper talking about the research process or how I felt about the lesson? I don’t know if it is supposed to be helping the students reflect or help the professor see how students are feeling, and frankly I don’t care what the intended purpose is.
6. Online math lab
One step up from doing math problems from a book like back in high school, but it is still annoying. The program is almost always having problems and half the time it takes longer just to figure that out than actually do the math.
7. Powerpoint Presentations
Some people love public speaking, but for a lot of college students it is dreaded. The stress of talking in front of a class is apparently not enough so professors love to have you add on a powerpoint and grade that too. Not too many words on the slides, lots of pictures, interesting videos, and it has to look “visually pleasing”. Someone needs to tell professors that if they want our power points to look so nice than the ones they use for lectures should too.
