I was wondering if I would have attended more classes in college if there was some free beverage on offer ?
After doing a one year full time course in the UK, I have emerged wiser, and of course almost bankrupt. The course (I did an MBA from Cranfield School of Management), was very nicely designed and I was very comfortable in setting a good pace against it. Exams were not a major headache and obtaining grades were just a formality.
And now I know why I hated studying while I was doing my bachelors degree in engineering in India. Yes, laziness played a major part in it. But there were many reasons for us (at least a lot in my cohort) to hate studies at college. I am no way implying I had a bad 4 years at NIT Nagpur, oh no . In fact the time was awesome, spent mostly on non - academic stuff. Now, coming to why I hated studying - reasons were plenty, and here are few of them - outdated syllabus, and outdated mode of teaching, lack of good content, lack of connection between profs and students, exam (grade) centered culture and so on.
And these were the same reasons I loved studying in the UK. In fact, just after being in the university for a few weeks, I knew why I hated going to classes back in India.
And there is one more reason - free tea/coffee at the Cranfield SOM. While it might not matter that much, but it was much of an incentive to at least turn up to the college building, hangout with fellow students, profs etc and also attend classes for a change. I remember waking up during my undergrad days, and rushing straight to the mess/canteen to find some tea or grab something to eat, before rushing off to attend the 11am lecture (classes used to start at 9). Having a vending machine to serve tea near the classroom would have definitely helped ;) Now, don't ask me the practicality/operational-plan of such an idea.
Now, one might argue that college is not for fun, relaxation and comfort, but a place for hard work in spite of challenges and to get the max out of it. Well, I agree, but I am also a lazy person, a Bengali by heart , and I love to live a slow paced life with as little hiccups as possible. So a degree on a sliver platter served with minimal effort from my side, while I was sleeping (and occasionally playing cards) in my dorm was exactly what I was looking for !
