I Whole-Headedly Agree

After successfully petitioning for the opportunity to take an English class rather than a teaching class as part of my Masters program (I am an English teacher after all,) I've found myself a bit over my head. The reading load is quite lengthy, approximately 400 pages twice a week, which is not an easy task while working full time. During the class' first meeting, I was excited to be surrounded by pretension. It had been a while since I've discussed literature in an intellectual fashion (no offense to my ninth and tenth graders) and watching masters and PHD students jockey for mental superiority was more stimulating than a carnival.

The appeal wore off after a few meetings, however. I prefer to dabble in pretension rather than immerse myself in it, so eventually I've kind of checked out. Your ideas are brilliant, I get it already.

Some of my classmates drive me nuts. There are two in particular that I look at like bobblehead dolls. The entire - that's entire, not just some of the or most of the - time, these two sit next to each other and vigorously nod their heads at everything the professor says, accompanied by a smug smile announcing "I was already thinking that." I've previously spoken of this annoying phenomenon's existence in comedy audiences, but it reaches new heights in an academic context. Rather than literally kissing the professor's ass, the students just keep their heads in motion to unmistakably demonstrate that they understand and agree with what the professor is saying.

Worse yet, it's really throwing off my own participation in the class. How can I gather a coherent thought to share with a distraction of that magnitude? Stop nodding. Stop nodding! STOP NODDING! I try to look away, but I can't help looking back to verify that, yes, in fact, their heads are still bobbing more frequently than a chicken's. I have a morbid fascination that one of these days their necks will snap off.