I took mostly engineering, science, math and economics in College. Most of these are no-nonsense knowledge application stuff.
But I did have some electives too. I had to take management classes and a speech class. I have always been an articulate and confident speaker in public. I figured it would be a fun class for me, provide some practice and earn a pretty easy A. That is until I received my grade on the first speech. This was my introduction to the liberal arts side of things and professors that were ‘out of their’ minds on real world application of a collegiate education.
When it came time to give our first 5 minute speech to the class I was the third to go. I nailed it. The young woman that followed me was horribly nervous. She cried in front of class and couldn't even read from her notes. She didn't finish the 5 minute speech. Another guy read verbatim his entire speech from his notes. I recall saying a prayer of thanks to the Lord for some of the many talents he bestowed on me and prayed to help some others get through this class. It was painful until I learned of my grade and that of others. I received a D! The girl that couldn't finish received an A and the guy that read his entire speech received a B.
I had a meeting with the “tenured professor” to get some help on what the problem was as there was no explanation on my graded research and note cards (that I did not need to use but was required to turn in). She stated that she graded on the potential of the student and these first few grades didn't mean much. “You shouldn't be discussing grades between yourselves anyway.”
My point? Professors are WAY overrated with regards to their supposed “expertise”. I don't trust the expertise of academia for real world application any more than I trust the assembly instructions for a yo-yo made in China.
I'm not surprised that Obama doesn't really understand the Constitution or the founding documents and values of this nation.
“I recall saying a prayer of thanks to the Lord for some of the many talents he bestowed on me and prayed to help some others get through this class”
Some of your classmates might have had phobias, I don’t know. But even those can be overcome with a little work. Methinks it’s not that you’re blessed, but that others were lazy. Most anyone can give a five minute speech extemporaneously.