Unstudious Students

NOTE:  This post has been updated after a friend pointed out a few errors in judgment and logic.  She was 100% right, so I edited the post to remove my bias.  I apologize for any offense caused.

I am in my second semester at NOVA Alexandria campus and I am loving it!  After being out of school for about 10 years, I decided to go back and pursue an A.A.S. in Business Management to give myself a new set of skills which will hopefully translate into me finally finding my niche career.  I have four degrees (B.A. in English, A.S. in General Studies, A.S. in Legal Studies, and an A.A. in General Education), however I was not happy working in the jobs those degrees made accessible to me.  I am still searching for my ideal job; the one I want to wake up early for and arrive early to; the one I am genuinely passionate about; and the one I cannot help but say only positive things about.  I am still uncertain of what I want to be when I grow up other than Chris' wife and doggy mommy to at least one furry child at all times.

This semester, I am taking Introduction to Marketing.  It is the first class I have taken during the day since 2001 when I graduated from the University of North Florida.  Back then, it was normal to be surrounded by 18 to 23 year olds and have a handful of students in your classes who did not care about grades, their performance, or how much they may have gotten on their fellow students' and professors' nerves for their bad attitudes and approaches to school.  Now that I am an adult (*gulp*, I turn 35 in about 2 months), I want to attend class with students who of the same mindset as me:  get to class early, do all of the homework giving my best effort every time, complete all of the reading on time, come to class prepared, ask intelligent questions during the lecture, participate in class, build rapport with my fellow classmates and the professor, etc.  I strive to be the best student I can be; always and without exception.  I am very proud of my high GPA and academic performance and I am willing to go pretty far to protect and defend what I have worked so hard for.

So, when I have students in my class  who are more inclined to put their heads down on the desk and nap/doze/sleep through class, not pay attention, not bring a pen or notebook to class so that taking notes is impossible, play on their iPad or iPhone through class, arrive late and leave early, make a lot of noise, talk amongst themselves during lecture, or otherwise demonstrate their negative attitude toward school or disrupt my and other students' ability to do well in the class, I take great offense and want to do something about it.

To my surprise and horror, there are several students in my marketing class who have already shown me that they apparently do not care about their performance in the class very much by the following behaviors:
1)  two girls who are clearly best friends sit in the back row and talk quietly to each other through class
2)  a few students who never bring a pen or notebook to class and never take notes
3)  five students who consistently sit in the first row before class starts, which is reserved for late-comers and anyone who knows they must leave early (so they are not disrupting the class)
4)  one girl who opened an "angry soda" which sprayed onto her desk (which she did not clean up) and who ate a bag of crunchy trail mix during class (her crunching was very loud, but my professor said nothing)

Unless these folks have taken a class under this particular professor before, they do not know that he quietly watches their behavior in class, makes notes as he needs to, and deducts points from their participation grade, which accounts for 5% of the final grade.  Also, if they show up late after the roll has been passed around, they forfeit their attendance points for the day.  These two aspects of the final grade could be considered a "gimme," so I would think that most students would do their best to arrive on time consistently, stay for the entire class period every time, participate in class, and guarantee that 10% (which translates to a letter grade difference and is nothing to scoff at).

Hopefully, we will be allowed to choose our own teams for the group project.  If not, at least there is a peer review component to the project grade.  On the form, we can give accolades to students who perform well and/or make the professor aware of any student(s) who did not pull their weight.  I really dislike group projects, but I am already making mental notes about who I would like to have on my ideal team.