College students have several things that are expected of them throughout the course of a semester. Homework, showing up for class, finishing assignment are all things that instantly come to mind. But perhaps one of the most important things a student must do, is not something that will show up on the syllabus. As a student in a higher education institution, the biggest task is to learn how to adapt.

In the classroom, one never knows what to expect. Lectures, power points and discussions are what most teachers will use in order to teach the important parts of their curriculum. What students should really take away from their classes isn’t what is showing up on the board, it is the ability to adjust to what is being taught and the method it is being presented.

Students today are spoiled in almost every way imaginable. Today’s students get to pick their classes, the teachers for the classes, what times they want to take their classes, and sometimes even how the classes may be structured. But even more is being catered to them through Accessibility Laws. If something is not right for their personal learning preference, it can be changed into a format that is.

But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of what college is really suppose to do: prepare for a real job in the real world?

For some reason though, this is not what most students are learning. They have been taught that complaining to bosses that their desks do not properly work because they’re left-handed, new desks to accommodate them will magically appear. If they’re unhappy with the weekly lectures their bosses give, the following week they’ll be watching Power Point slideshows.

There are a few students who may really need help. Some students may not stand to write in a left-handed desk, but others may. If someone really sees being left-handed as a learning disability, then how have so many left-handed students been able to succeed in right-handed ones?

Students need to learn that they must adapt or be lost in the dust of fellow classmates that can. Students must find ways to make teachers’ curriculums and teaching styles work for them. If that takes two hours of preparation, the possibility of bringing a recorder to class or beginning to study two weeks ahead of time to get ready for a test, then they should.

An important thing to remember is that a classroom is not a democracy in anyway. It is a dictatorship and should remain one. Teachers will give assignments which are expected to be finished in order to succeed with a passing grade. In a classroom that runs off of democracy, there would never be assignments and students would always pass. Even the least intelligent of the bunch could be going to the highest ranked school, getting a degree they know nothing about and then going on to rule the world without ever learning a thing.

But isn’t there something wrong with that picture? As much as some students do not want to, they go to school to learn and to better themselves as people in order to provide hopes for their own future. If everyone succeeded, no one would work. If everyone succeeded, anyone could have a degree in whatever they wanted. If everyone succeeded, our world would be a terrible place full of individuals who knew absolutely nothing.

Of course, not all students will agree, only the ones who wish they could get by doing nothing. If classes are not as well structured as they like, they may take matters into their own hands. Complaining to the teacher, sending nasty emails and talking to their superiors may not always be the best solution in the long run.
Being fully catered to in such defining moments of their lives will just make them weaker later on. The people who learn to adapt to what is presented will be the ones who succeed. Those who cannot adapt in any way, get used to having every tiny detail tailored to their exact whims, will fall by the wayside.

Instead of complaining, try a new way of thinking. Think about the teachers who put forth an effort in their class schedules and presentations and end up fixing everything that their students may not agree with. In the end it is best just to do the work, get it done, and avoid confrontations. Creating more trouble is not the solution.

Not all situations can or should be avoided, but a student should think before complaining about a situation that will just cause more pain later on. Learn to adapt now, while there is still time. Otherwise, every left-handed writer in the world will be out of a job simply because of right-handed desks.

Janaca Scherer is a staff writer for The Current.