On students

I was at KU yesterday, where I'm helping teach a course in magazine journalism, and got chatting to a colleague whom I taught with last semester. While we were talking, a student came up to say hi and tell us how things were going with him. His face was shining with enthusiasm as he told us how much he was enjoying the course he's taking right now, and how it's really getting him excited for his future. He has a grand plan all in place, and is busy urging other students to sign up for the internship he took during the summer, he told us. "And maybe one day I can sign my name to a scholarship here," he finished.

It got me thinking about the differences between American and British students. You'd never get a student in Britain so enthusiastic about their studies - or at least you certainly wouldn't have done where I was at university. Forgive me if I'm making a sweeping generalisation here, but British students don't, on the whole, come up to thank their professors for what they have taught them, or express their desire to give a scholarship to the university so other students can enjoy a little financial aid. They're more likely to grumble about their workload (likely to be far less than what the average American student has to produce per term), and then go and spend their student loan in the pub.

The meeting made me simultaneously encouraged and depressed. Encouraged because it is great to work in an environment where students are genuinely excited about learning. Depressed because I come from a country where that's not the norm. It makes me want to send my children to a US university when the time comes. When, of course, a little financial aid in the form of a scholarship might come in very handy....