senior survey
I just took this 30 minute online survey required of graduating seniors, and all it made me realize was how little balance I have in my life. Why did I even take this? One of my friends said it made her so depressed within the first page that she just quit. I wish I had. It looked something like this:
On average, how many hours per week did you spend doing the following while an undergraduate at Northwestern?
Going to class: 12-15
Doing work outside of class: 24+
Going to parties: 2...maybe?
Exercising: hah, not even going to answer that one
Volunteering: maybe 16 hours total my freshman year?
Going to campus-sponsored social events: we have these?
Watching TV: I don't have a TV
You get the point. Then it asked a bunch of questions regarding our current job security after graduating and that's another depressing subject altogether. I think these end-of-the road surveys inevitably make people angry. Even if when it comes down to it, you enjoyed college, something about a question like "What could Northwestern have done to make your experience better?"...I mean that's just begging for rancor. I tried to be constructive but I just got so bitter while taking the survey that my list just consisted of short, to the point sentences, including: "Abolish the Greek system. It's a flesh racket. Your bookstore is a racket. Off campus landlords run a racket. Everything here is a racket."
As you learn in AP Statistics, the answer is already in the question. If the survey had asked fun questions about what combinations of salsa I like on my Chipotle, can I estimate the total number of times I heard the word "discursive" in a classroom, or to describe how much I like to look at the Chicago skyline across Lake Michigan on a sunny day, then I would have come out of that survey with a much better feeling about graduating.
On average, how many hours per week did you spend doing the following while an undergraduate at Northwestern?
Going to class: 12-15
Doing work outside of class: 24+
Going to parties: 2...maybe?
Exercising: hah, not even going to answer that one
Volunteering: maybe 16 hours total my freshman year?
Going to campus-sponsored social events: we have these?
Watching TV: I don't have a TV
You get the point. Then it asked a bunch of questions regarding our current job security after graduating and that's another depressing subject altogether. I think these end-of-the road surveys inevitably make people angry. Even if when it comes down to it, you enjoyed college, something about a question like "What could Northwestern have done to make your experience better?"...I mean that's just begging for rancor. I tried to be constructive but I just got so bitter while taking the survey that my list just consisted of short, to the point sentences, including: "Abolish the Greek system. It's a flesh racket. Your bookstore is a racket. Off campus landlords run a racket. Everything here is a racket."
As you learn in AP Statistics, the answer is already in the question. If the survey had asked fun questions about what combinations of salsa I like on my Chipotle, can I estimate the total number of times I heard the word "discursive" in a classroom, or to describe how much I like to look at the Chicago skyline across Lake Michigan on a sunny day, then I would have come out of that survey with a much better feeling about graduating.