# Professor: "Lets go around the classroom and have everyone tell us about themselves"



## Bert Reynolds (Dec 18, 2013)

*Professor: "Lets go around the classroom and have everyone tell us about themselves"*

The moment I hear this I just dread up in terror. I don't understand why professors do this sh** still. This is not middle school anymore, it's college. If people don't want to introduce themselves to the class then they shouldn't be forced to. It's pointless and doesn't do anything besides humiliate the shy/SA person who doesn't have the capability of doing such a task. Everyone forgets, including the teacher, what each student said about themselves. The only thing people remember is that weird, awkward kid who wasn't able to speak and was on the verge of having a panic attack.

I bring this up especially because this just happened again in my night class earlier when the professor had us sit in a circle and go around and introduce ourselves. And when we started class and I heard what we had to do, I literally just dipped and left. I hate all of this sh** and I hate SA.

Anyone else hate it when this happens?


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## Remnant of Dawn (Feb 22, 2012)

Yeah, I know what you mean. That happened to me in one of my classes today. "Everyone introduce yourself, say your major, where you're from, and one interesting thing about yourself." 

I'm okay with the name, major, and hometown part, but the interesting fact always trips me up. I usually just kind of mumble that I like to jog and hope no one pays too much attention.


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## joked35 (Oct 13, 2013)

I specifically hated these moments. It really annoys me when you give a brief statement hoping that it would satisfy, only for the lecturer to try to pick it apart further "So do you have any plans after you complete your program?" Please **** off. I said what I wanted to say now leave me alone (I wish I could say that). College sucked. Thank goodness I never have to go back.


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## Lacking Serotonin (Nov 18, 2012)

God, the first day of school was horrible. Going around the class and introducing yourself and talking about your summer. I wish I was home schooled.


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## SoWrongItsRight (May 9, 2012)

this makes me nervous just reading it. I went to college for one day and the teacher said we would have to do a 10 minute speech for a big part of the grade and I never went back. kinda sucks because I had a scholarship that paid for 4 years of schooling. I just literally can't talk in front of people like that. I get a cold sweat, I shake, my voice shakes, my face gets red, and my heart races. feels like you're dying


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## Bert Reynolds (Dec 18, 2013)

SoWrongItsRight said:


> this makes me nervous just reading it. I went to college for one day and the teacher said we would have to do a 10 minute speech for a big part of the grade and I never went back. kinda sucks because I had a scholarship that paid for 4 years of schooling. I just literally can't talk in front of people like that. I get a cold sweat, I shake, my voice shakes, my face gets red, and my heart races. feels like you're dying


Yeah, this is why I am looking into beta blockers for the physical symptoms you just described. I even took .75mg of Xanax and a shot of vodka before the class in anticipation this would happen and of course to my luck it did and it still wasn't good enough.


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## mind flip (Aug 27, 2012)

I HATE when teachers do that! I always feel so uncomfortable and anxious when I know my turn is coming up. And when they ask for more personal information I always feel like whatever I say sounds stupid.


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## mind0vermatter (Jan 29, 2014)

Yea, it's kind of stupid. My heart races so fast just before my turn to speak. But all is good after a while so I don't sweat too much.


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## Niche (Dec 28, 2013)

Students with speech anxiety can apply for Student Disability, and prof will never ask you to do self-introduction anymore.


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## ToughUnderdog (Jul 7, 2013)

I can't stand it either - it's a huge waste of class time. What gets me is every business class has a presentation and it's not like we're all going to be presenting in board meetings the rest of our life.


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## prettyful (Mar 14, 2013)

i usually have an answer already prepared for these kinds of questions. it helps.


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## russianruby (Jan 29, 2013)

I hate this also. Next time this happens I'm going to ask what the purpose of it is and see what the professor has to say about it lol. Only time it matters to actually know someones name is in labs and even there we don't need to know what someone elses favorite food is!


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## mike91 (Sep 23, 2012)

I hated this as well used to drive me up the wall then they want to know something you enjoy I felt like saying not ****ing this


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## Pompeii (Aug 25, 2013)

I have a standard procedure: clear throat multiple times, turn tomato red, stare intently at the desk in front of me, grip edge of said desk, mumble the shortest sentence known to mankind or some disjointed words in a quivery voice.


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## AceEmoKid (Apr 27, 2012)

This is why I hate first days. I had to make an introduction for all my core classes (philosophy, film lab, rhetorical arts) but luckily not in any of my art/major classes. I don't understand why professors do this. It's not like our personalities are relevant to the curriculum. It's just unneeded anxiety to start off the semester. Ugh. 

I remember particularly in my philosophy class -- I didn't realize it was my time to speak. I was secretly hoping he'd skipped over me (I tried to hunch myself down behind the person sitting in front of me as much as I could). It caught me off guard. I tried to keep my voice level and monotone, but I just ended up mumbling at such a low volume that the professor made me repeat my whole spiel. So I recited the 3 simple sentences (my name, year/major, and one interesting thing that I did over winter break -- aka nothing/ made me feel really lame as others did anything from pitching TV shows to companies to traveling to France ) as fast as I could. I could feel the furnaces in my cheeks after I had finished, and the heat and shakiness didn't subside until the rest of maybe 10 people finished their own introductions.


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## SuperSky (Feb 16, 2011)

Eh. It's not only students who do this. Imagine you're in a work meeting where people may or may not know each other, and you're expected to spend the day discussing stuff. Round table introductions are common everywhere.


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## mcmuffinme (Mar 12, 2010)

I get through the class introductions, because logically I know that nobody gives a ****, or will remember the things I'm saying. But I really do hate the practice. I especially hate when teachers claim that it helps people learn. News flash: It has NOTHING to do with the material we're being taught. It doesn't do jack ****. At least admit this is just an excuse to force people to socialize.


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## probably offline (Oct 8, 2012)

It's horrible.


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## crimeclub (Nov 7, 2013)

Worst thing ever. I quickly script everything I'm going to say, if I try to improvise talking in front of a whole class I'll probably stutter a bit and just Rain Man it up.


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## Greenleaf62 (Aug 1, 2013)

Ugh, I hate this so so much. I especially hate when the teacher asks us to say something interesting about ourselves because there's really nothing interesting about me. In one of my classes during our introductions I even told them that, and compared to everyone else (who talked about their hobbies, sports they played, or cool jobs they had over the summer) there was definitely nothing interesting to say about me.


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## thecrazy88 (Feb 27, 2013)

I don't think anyone likes it. I go to a large university so it doesn't happen often, and I was really surprised that it did. I thought I'd be done with that after high school. It's one of the reasons I hate small classes.


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## Shadow2009 (Sep 25, 2010)

Oh God. I remember my first day of college in 2011 we went round the entire class and were told to answer *why our parents gave us our name*. The girl before me came out with a really moving and thoughtful answer like "my Grandmother had a miscarriage and dreamed of calling her daughter Alicia so my Mom called me it for my Grandmother's sake" then I kinda stuttered "uhhh my parents just liked the name" (silence, a few awkward laughs) then the girl after me came out with something hilarious and made everyone burst into laughter. I just wanted to shrivel up.


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## lockS (Sep 15, 2011)

I hate it too. I literally say the stupidest things when I'm nervous. Once I even got laughed at for saying something really dumb. :/


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## LovelyMemory (Jan 18, 2014)

Yep... As soon as I hear we have to introduce ourselves, I'm basically dying. Like, why are you doing this to me? :afr


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## adelaide (Jan 20, 2014)

I absolutely hate it. In one of my classes the other day we had to say our name, major and THREE "interesting" things about ourselves. I can't even come up with one


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## TeenyBeany (Sep 3, 2008)

hate it! i usually just sweat it out and get it over with.


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## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

I don't mind. I am very good at introducing myself. I'd be scared if I wasn't considering that's the only part of a social interaction I can even get through.


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## Higgins (Apr 19, 2012)

Introductions suck when you feel like there's a standard to live up to (for example, somebody goes before you and makes the whole class laugh, and then you feel like an idiot if you do yours and everybody's just silent), but I managed to get through mine just fine. Wish I had the ability to be hilarious on the spot like some other people apparently can, but oh well.


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## vanishingpt (Mar 9, 2012)

I'm always nervous for these on the first day of classes. There was one class I joined though during second semester, and everyone already knew each other and took these presentation courses (I was an undergrad taking master's courses – long story) so when the professor was saying "I want everyone to talk about their background, what firm they're in right now, what they have to offer to everyone, and why they deserve to be here." a lot of the students seemed pretty confident... I was still working on my background LOL... felt like I didn't compare much to everyone else since they were all ahead of me at that point...


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## Asdf*456 (Feb 1, 2014)

I absolutely despise when teachers/profs do that.
Please, leave the seemingly awkward and afraid individuals alone.


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## sarafinanickelbocker (May 16, 2010)

YES! My dad even does this (he's an instructor). It's horrifying no?

They want to get students acquainted with each other ... and to know them, etc. 

I just hope that I'm not first, so I can think of some very short answer that will satisfy the question. (this happens at work trainings too  )


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## wmu'14 (Sep 17, 2010)

I think the problem is that we SAS sufferers think that they're looking for a huge accomplishment we've done and that sets our anxiety off because we, for the most part, haven't really done anything that huge.

That may've been true in public schooling. However, now that I'm in university, I see that most students just say where they're from, what they're studying, and what they want to do with their degree. At university, most students don't care to say something phenomenal, either because they're not interested in looking cool and don't need to rely on some stupid game to look cool, or because at university there's always someone better.


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## Lokis Whispers (Feb 24, 2012)

I guess I'm the only one who is grateful for teachers who do this?  I figure, hey, I'm in college to learn, now I'm going to learn to be social because once I graduate and get a job I'm gonna have to introduce myself to my co-workers and I won't even get the handicap of having a professor force me to do it, I'll have to take the initiative and do it on my own.

That's not to say that I like it, because I don't. When I hear the professor say that, my heart starts pounding and I start sweating, even though all I have to say is my name and major and why I'm taking the class. It's the dread that always does me in.

In my New Testament class the professor sets aside ten minutes at the beginning of each class for us to "gather into groups with the people around you and discuss the chapter you had to read" I almost had a panic attack right there when he said that's how our classes would be... luckily most of the students are really nice and attempt to pull me into discussions when they see me looking awkward and by myself. Could be worse.


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## Rainbat (Jan 5, 2012)

I never found this that bad.

You say your name, your major, and then answer whatever question the professor asks. It's usually trivial icebreaker stuff like your dream job, if you have any pets, what kind of music do you like, etc.


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## Steinerz (Jul 15, 2013)

Professor: "Lets go around the classroom and have everyone tell us about themselves"










I usually just say my name. If they ask if there is anything else I say no.


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