ninevirtues | We had a class meeting.

A couple of the faculty called a class meeting for our class over the break, so they could 'get feedback from us about what was and was not working in our education'.

I'm still thinking about how that meeting went. I carefully watched who talked, who stayed quiet, et cetera.

When asked directly whether our class is, as has been rumored, known as "the whiners", our professor temporized, saying we had a "complex personality."

I read that as, "Yes, some of you whine like stomped grapes, but not all of you."

So I went to my academic adviser, who is known for her understanding of interpersonal politics, group dynamics, et cetera, and asked her, "Is our class _really_ known as the whiners?" There followed a moment of not-quite-stunned silence.

"Well, every class develops its own personality, and usually a group of students within the class-- not all of them, but a group of them-- drives the personality."

I read that as, "Well, the large and obvious cliques in your class drive the group dynamic." (They do, I agree. Some of the people in my class complain a lot.)