[RunDownHouse]

You're way off on a couple points, mason.

First, the statement "Its all for a piece of paper" is very, very true. A diploma is a signalling device to employers. I could go to the public library, study all the time, and become the second coming of Keynes, but without a degree the Fed won't even glance at my resume.

Second, you seem to equate attendance with education. There's a reason I always hated group projects in school: the others in my group were simpering idiots. Often, professors love to turn their classes into big group projects, and so it takes an entire semester to get through plate tectonics. No thanks, I'll learn it on my own and show up for the final.

Third, the OP said this was ecology. Ecology! If that didn't sound like a blow-off class needed to fill some requirement, you probably went to a Northeastern liberal arts school smaller than most high schools. Just because the OP doesn't want to waste his time listening to a lecture on why littering is bad doesn't mean he's neglecting his education as a whole.