On motivation

It’s a funny thing, motivation. For expert procrastinators like me, it helps to have a little extra push at exam time, motivating me to pack up my books, brave the Dutch weather, make my way to the library and get studying. Now naturally, one hopes the desire to study comes from an innate desire to pass exams, but sometimes, well, motivation comes from funny places. 
For instance there are times when I just don’t like a subject. This happens to everyone, and there’s not much you can do about it. Which is why I often find myself studying the hardest for courses I dislike, because then I can pass that exam and never have to see that subject again! At other times, though, the opposite happens, when you like a subject and hence find yourself actually enjoying studying it. Occasionally you start off in the first situation and through some miracle (or a lecturer’s passion for his or her subject) it ends up in the second. But amidst all this pondering on what motivates me to study, I also wonder: what motivates the people who are teaching me this material? It’s a relevant question, because I had to write a motivation letter as part of my application process to attend this university. I had to stop and really think about why I was choosing this study. This is in stark contrast to what comes across when sitting in lectures. Rather than any kind of enthusiasm or motivation from the lecturer, I sometimes get the feeling they’d much rather be anywhere else but standing in front of a group of students trying to explain to exactly what a certain subject is all about. Other times, I get the impression they’re ‘teaching’ on autopilot, reciting the same words, using the same examples, pointing things out on slides they’ve used year after year.
The question is, then: does it matter if lecturers are motivated? Of course it does. Anybody doing something they don’t care about never puts in as much time and effort as those who’re passionate about their jobs. And this matters, because we want the best education we can get (not to mention our money’s worth), and that won’t happen being taught by people who don’t care about what they’re doing.
In my time here, it’s been clear that certain professors are more motivated and passionate about teaching their given subjects than others. And while that subject may not necessarily be one I personally care about, at the end of the day those are not only the professors for whom I respect the most, but somehow I also find myself working harder in those subjects.
So in this time of university budget cuts and restructuring, perhaps the university should begin by looking inward, and asking its staff: ‘What is your motivation to be here?’

Lucia Wamiti, from Kenya, is a BSc student studying aerospace engineering