I don't think a "good student" is anywhere as important an issue as a "good teacher".
I've had a few good ones in my life, and they really taught me the value of knowledge and learning. And then you get to university, and you're stuck in the meat grinder where knowledge is clinically turned into a salable asset.
I studied geology at varsity, and was immersed in my work and studies for all of two months. After that time, I went through all my work on my own, because the pace in class was too damn slow. I loved every single bit of it, and still do - geology is amazing. But I couldn't spend an
entire year waiting for the rest of the guys to catch up before we could be tested on the material and progress to the next level. And, of course, there was bills to be paid.
So I quit, and studied information technology at a private college that allowed for fast-tracking. I also find that very interesting. Then I started working, and the next year enrolled part-time for a B.Sc. in information technology, thinking that through working, I can get to spread my studies to fill the year. I passed the first year with flying colours, but then the company convinced my to switch my studies to B.Comm InfoTech rather, because it's more to
their benefit. And with dollars in my eyes, I did just that and had to repeat my first year of InfoTech with commercial subjects attached. And I hate bean counters, and bean counting in general. So, after that, I gave it up. Again. And I got completely disillusioned with the Corporate World.
I bought a farm (with my father) outside the town of Hartbeespoort in South Africa, and we invested in hydroponic tomato farming (after intensively studying it, of course
). This turned into a bit of a problem due to unforseen costs to treat our water with.
So I started my own advertising company, because apart from Geology, Information Science and Science in general, and farming, I love (and have a bent for) art.
I've been at it for a few years now, I make television ads and static newspaper ads for a few clients, and am launching my very own magazine within the next couple of months.
The nett result of all this is that I am an expert on email systems, networks, computer hardware, software (I wrote a program to do identity profile migrations between domains that our Microsoft consultants from Redmond explicitly told us was
impossible), Geology, tomatos, hydroponic farming, computer-generated graphics, vector imagery, printing, publishing, video editing, scripting, etc.
(pardon the modesty)
Yet I hold no single certification or degree for any of these. And working for myself (because the corporate world really,
really sucks), I'm in the happy position that it's not important.
And that's my whole point.
Teachers who are good, and I mean
good, will see the potential in every individual case, and modify their curriculum accordingly. Unfortunately, this is not always practical and/or possible. But they will instill a love of knowledge and learning for it's own sake, not for some far-off distant goal, to achieve a piece of paper that you can shove under some potential employer's nose in exchange of money.
I think bad teachers are way more harmful than bad students.
(Once again, sorry for the cocky valuation of my own skills... being my own boss, it's difficult to find any faults with the subject's pure unadulterated awesomeness
)
