Megan Prevost, Biotechnology Major

I don’t know about you, but moving on to campus terrified me and starting my classes

terrified me even more. I didn’t even know what to do. Was leaving my door open a good way to

make friends? Do I take notes whenever the teacher says something, and do I really need to read

the assigned chapter in the book? These are all questions that have plagued my mind over the

few weeks that I’ve been here. And I’m sure (at least I really hope) that I’m not the only one

struggling with these things. So I’ve come up with an idea: a survival guide, tips and tricks to

help you (and me) survive your time here on campus. Not only survive, but leave feeling like you

did as well as you could in your classes and that you didn’t waste your time. So I feel like there

might be a few topics to this because there are a lot of things that I could write about that

interest me, and maybe there are things you’d like to read about as well. But a few of the topics I

hope to cover include eating healthy while living on campus, study habits, making friends,

joining clubs and how to get along with your roommate.

This time we’re going to talk about classroom ethics. Now you don’t want to be afraid to go

to class, you don’t want to be nervous to raise your hand or answer a question or contribute to

the conversation. The classroom is supposed to be a place of learning, where everyone is there to

do the same thing, get out with a good grade, move on to a higher-level class and eventually

graduate and get a job in said profession.

These rules aren’t just the standard ones your teacher had you read in middle school,

though “no talking while the teacher is talking” still applies here. To create an ethical classroom,

there are a few things you need to do. You need to be respectful of your classmates, listen to

them while they’re speaking and they’ll do the same. Everyone is here to get an education, why

not make the best of it?

There are few golden rules that can be applied here (otherwise known as the five basic

principles of ethics, created by Dr. Bruce Weinstein). Do no harm, and don’t do anything that

will cause another person harm or get someone else in trouble. For example, cheating off

someone could get both you and another person into trouble that the school might not forgive.

Make things better, contribute to class discussions and if someone needs help, give it to them.

Respect others, a common rule for life in general. Don’t put people down or say anything that

could be interpreted as hurtful, especially if they’re putting themselves out there and

contributing to the conversation. Be fair and be loving. Being loving can mean a whole array of

things. I’m not so sure if being loving can really be applied to classroom ethics, but being fair

definitely can. Don’t talk all the time, and give others a chance to participate as well. Make

friends. Form study groups and help each other out.

After all, we’re all in this together.