- The freshman who thinks that he's still in a high school class of 20 students and he can be “cute” and joke around with the professor in the middle of a lecture. You are not in high school anymore. You are not the center of the world anymore. You are in a university lecture hall with 200 other students. Stop trying to stand out and be friends with the teacher.
- The older lady who has gone back to college now that her kids are out of the house. I don't have a problem with these ladies in general... My own mother is one of them. I'm irritated by the ones that apparently think the class is just like having lunch with friends or Good News Minute in Relief Society. In one class recently we were talking about the slave trade in the early American colonies. Our token fortysomething raised her hand in the middle of lecture and said, “You know, I remember when 'Roots' came out and it was just such a realistic depiction of slavery. It was just so awful the things these people went through...” That was the comment. Sure, none of it was untrue. But it added literally nothing to the discussion. Nobody learned anything from what she said. She didn't ask a question. It was barely even relevant.
That same lady also commented during a lecture about the early native peoples of North America. When the Four Corners area was mentioned, she raised her hand and told us all how when her son was on a mission someone told him how someone they know heard that President Hinckley said once that he'll never visit the Four Corners because that's where the Gadianton Robbers lived. It was kind of hilarious because the professor even called it out, asking if she was sure it was for real or just Mission Gossip. She, of course, swore up and down that it was true.
- The guy who comes in 15 minutes late and sits in the center of the front row. Since the door is at the front of the room, he's facing the class as he walks in and always has this stupid grin on his face as he looks at us, as if he's joining his peeps in someone's basement to watch a movie or something. He raises his hand about 15 times a class and always has the stupidest questions or jokes that add nothing to the lecture. Nobody thinks he's funny, but he always feels the need to pipe up.
- The hefty gentleman with BO who always sat next to me for some reason- in both of the classes we happened to have together.
- The girl who was a Middle East studies major and always felt the need to say so. I had like three different classes with her, one of which was a course about Islam. From the way she talked, it sometimes seemed like she thought she was a better authority than the professor. I swear, half of her comments started with “Well, I'm a Middle East studies major, so...” or "I actually study Arabic, and actually..."
- The guy in my Art History class who thinks that every work of art is supposed to symbolize genitalia. He sounded like he was trying to sound really smart (“This work seems almost Freudian with the tower in the middle there...”), but everybody just thought he had a dirty mind, or maybe he thought that by finding wieners in art and mentioning Freud would impress the professor. It was kinda funny seeing the prof try to respectfully disagree.
- The young parent that brings their baby to class. Thankfully, this doesn't happen very often and I'm quite sure most student-parents don't do this except in extreme circumstances where they don't have a choice. It's just that a university class is no place for a baby. I love babies, but not when I'm trying to pay attention in class and the kid is crying or goo-gooing. Paying attention is hard enough without that racket, and especially when all you want to do is hold the baby and pinch his chubby cheeks. Have some respect, you little punk.
