OP-ED: How Dare the TA Not Give Me All the Answers

CARPENTER HALL—For the first time in my entire college career, I have walked away from office hours with absolutely nothing to show for it. Never in my life have I felt more betrayed.

Did the TA really think I dragged my ass across campus in 8-degree weather on a Friday night, when I could’ve been binging a five-part documentary on bigfoot sightings, to LEARN SOMETHING? Uh, sorry to burst your bubble Colin, but if that was what I was interested in, maybe I would’ve showed up to lecture once in the past three weeks.

Let’s be real here. I knew exactly what I came for, and he knew exactly what I came for: to watch him try to explain some concept he learned five years ago before pulling out the answer key and sending me on my merry way.

Besides a bunch of “hints” that will “get me started on the right track,” I only managed to get the answer to one question out of him, and it was the only one I already knew how to do! Instead, all I really have after sitting there for an hour is a slightly better understanding of the material. Absolutely useless.