The Grad Voice

Is it me or does it seem like an inordinate number of professors are just plain socially-inept? You ask them a question and they look at you like you have a crack pipe hanging from your lip. "Did I speak a foreign language that you were not trained in?" Apparently so.

Well, I'd like to say that the student body could put these differences aside and go out for a drink with our intellectual mentors, but let's face it… they're like administrators - we aren't meant to have a good time with them.

Perhaps we don't go out drinking with them because we're afraid of what we might glimpse about our own futures. Or it could be that they fear losing their jobs. Of course, it might just be that the long-held division keeping students away from teachers outside of the classroom is because the professors wouldn't be able to hold up their end of the good time. I mean, unless their livers are floating in a Bourbon marinade, these people are at a serious disadvantage versus the average MBA.

But fortunately for us, there is always that one "special" professor. A man who escapes the traditional boundaries of his authority and relates well to the kids. Great cologne, a sharp outfit, and the kind of energy that draws 'em in. He's refreshing… like a summer's eve. If only grad school had more like him.

More importantly though, this professor teaches us what we don't learn in the classroom: how to be cool. Life isn't black and white. We don't need to fear authority - we should befriend it; and the closer to it we get, the better life will be. Cheers to the "cool" professor who inspires us to reach out and embrace our teachers as peers. Let's break down the barriers and fill our emptiness with student-teacher mixers.

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