Just the season for an attitude adjustment!

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 20:55:44 -0500
community-news-and-opinion

'Tis the season, folks!
Goodness knows we all b*tch about our Professors, TA's and the various members of the administration that runs this, er, up and coming institution, and on rare occasions, they even deserve it.
But, if you're honest, you're overwhelmingly more likely to vent than to compliment.
Time to tip the cosmic scales back towards balance. Make up for your naughty by doing something nice!

Send one or all of your prof's, your TA's, or (yep) someone you've been lucky enough to deal with personally in admin a kind and complimentary e-mail.
Be friendly. Be kind. Be specific.
There is something about every one of these people that you can compliment. Their sense of humor or commitment (they do manage to come back each day to deal with you, after all), a difficult concept or new idea that they managed to cram into your skull, or even just the patience they managed when they caught the blowback from something that had nothing to do with them.
Write them a letter. Send them a card. E-mail them.
I guarantee that they will appreciate these more than a kind word hastily delivered as you leave class.
Do it, not because they are decent folks who deserve a kind word once in a while, something I do actually believe, but because you are decent folks, even on our bad days.