some classes last 50 minutes, some classes go on for an hour and a half. then there are those classes that stretch into eternity, that leave you feeling empty and used and drained of your will to live.

welcome to "political science 2703: justice, liberty, and the good society." easily the worst class i've ever had.

it all started out ok. after a couple days of class, i decided this would simply be "justice, liberty, the good society, and a cosmo." but after a few weeks of burying my head in a magazine, i simply could no longer ignore the hideousness of what was going on around me.

as a political science student, i've had many classes which devoted a significant amount of time to debating issues of the day or political theory, and this class is no different. however, i've also been privileged in the past to have classmates who, despite their wide range of opinions, were informed, intelligent, well-spoken, and open minded.

meet Redneck Freshman From the Sticks of Oklahoma. for your reading ease, we'll just call him "clint."

clint likes to talk a lot. clint likes to talk when you're talking. clint likes to interrupt the professor with his brilliant political insights. clint thinks john stuart mill had it all wrong, and we should limit freedom of speech so those homosexual deviants can't spread their message and convert people to their lifestyle. clint doesn't sound incredibly sure that we made the right decision on that whole slavery thing.

i have actually silenced clint from across the classroom a time or two. which is a good thing, since our dear professor simply ignores him and several of my more liberal-minded peers seem ready to have a clint-lynching after class.

speaking of our professor, he is mr. feeny of "boy meets world." he looks like him, he talks like him, he teaches class and lectures just like him. which is why he is universally referred to across campus as dr. feeny. it's "kristin meets world" every tuesday and thursday morning, as i am continuously subjected to the slow, pained speech absolutely bursting to the seams with ridiculously long pregnant pauses of tv's mr. feeny.

all of this i could potentially deal with were the class not freezing cold. despite the fact that i have progressively added a layer of clothing throughout the semester, i shiver from the moment i enter the classroom to the moment i leave. my goosebumps have goosebumps. dr. feeny seems unable to do anything to alter the comfort level of our little academic igloo despite our repeated pleading. forget him being just like mr. feeny, he's mr. feeny minus the insightful advice and helpful attitude. mr. feeny's evil twin.

i started out with magazines, but i think getting through this class might require stronger drugs.

goodbye cosmo and diet coke, hello therapy and prozac.