If last semester’s trends and statistics hold, you probably haven’t filled out the student feedback surveys for all the classes you took this semester. As The Shorthorn reported earlier this month, only 33% of students enrolled in either on campus or online classes completed the assessments of their professors and coursework during the fall semester. Those numbers fell considerably from previous semesters, where participation rates ranged from the high 60 percent range into the 70s.

The collapse traces its origin to the switch from paper surveys to online questionnaires, according to the story. But we should reverse that trend this semester. Professors and administrators need our feedback, and what reason do we have not to provide it?

Two big themes of my second semester — dulling the financial pain commuting brings and struggling to work harder academically  – have collided fortuitously to make the final weeks of my freshman year a whole lot easier and less expensive. 

I find it unbelievably convenient that overcoming my motivational problem and studying harder would go a long way toward also solving my commuting issues. But strangely enough, everything worked out precisely in such a fashion.

You might hear “eye-opening,” “excellent,” “amazing,” “inspiring,” and “best ... I’ve seen in ... years” from descriptions of the latest Hollywood blockbuster or best-selling CD. Visitors have also used those exact words when asked to share their thoughts on the Freshmen Leaders on Campus’ ethics presentation in The Gallery at the University Center.

I’m getting pretty excited about that last part, but less so about the first two.

In most of my classes I have done reasonably well, especially Spanish II, intro. to psychology and history of western civilization. I feel pretty confident about securing an A in all those.