It’s not all sun and roses in my interactions with students, however. Earlier in the day, a student came to be advised.
“I’m creating my Fall schedule,” she told me, “and I want to choose the easiest courses there are. I want courses that require absolutely no effort or hard work, you know? Like a complete breeze, you know? Like the kind of a course I could almost take in my sleep. So I’ve been thinking about your course on the culture of Spain. Is that really easy?”
“It’s full,” I said.
“And the other section. . .”
“Full!”
“And your Hispanic Civ course, how easy is that?”
“FULL!!” I barked.
(It’s all true, the courses are full, and I wasn’t about to make any exceptions for the Queen of Slackers.)
The student, however, did not relent.
“So who offers really easy courses at this department? I’ve taken courses with Professor C, and that was hard. There was, like, homework and stuff. And Professor M makes people read. Is there anybody who’s easy?”
By that time I was fuming.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. Professors C and M are the easiest we have. The rest are even harder.”
“Huh,” the student said. “And I always thought this was an easy Major.”

P.S. My sister suggested that the next time students ask me about easy courses, I direct them to the kindergarten we have nearby.