Education is what you get out of it. Especially at the university level. If you are really engaged and trying to find new things it will be a wild ride. If you are there to just 'get the degree' you will find it dull, boring and a chore. What crystalized this thought for me was a few years ago. I had a class that started with 20 people in a corp env and optional. At first all 20 showed. By the last class there was 4. Most had checked out when they realized that you had to do the course work and be engaged (2-3 hours of study per week for 8 weeks). We even made accommodations for those who fell behind as long as they tried. I found being engaged into the coursework is not the norm.
Well, if I could send a short message to myself 15 years back in time, I'd tell myself that - specifically, tell myself that professors and TAs seem disengaged or dumb mostly because they're being forced to teach outside of their direct area of research or expertise, and those same scholars will be thrilled and super-engaged if you approach them to learn about their research. Something I learned just as I was leaving the university.
(That, and investment tips, obviously.)
However, very much like the article claims, I feel that me 15 years ago wouldn't be truly moved and convinced by this message. Hell, I'm sure I must've read or heard that advice many times in my early university time - but I never stopped to actually process it.
> seem disengaged or dumb mostly because they're being forced to teach outside of their direct area of research or expertise
It depends on the people. I had a great fun teaching at the university as a PhD student, because I loved to teach. I obviously liked to teach what I was working on, but also very much other areas. The main reason being that I only truly understood them when teaching - it is by far (for me at least) the bast way to really learn something.
