By Tiera Richardson /­Special to The Collegian­

As I sit in a full night class, I couldn’t help but notice the majority of the students fidgeting on technical devices, completely unengaged with the lecture.

“What were they doing?” I thought as my observant eyes scanned the room, not shocked, but rather, disappointed.

Research shows that Fresno State is ranked in the 52nd percentile of all colleges and ranges from 34 to 54 percent of students who actually graduate.

I stare at the girl’s Apple laptop in front of me as she scans through pictures on Pinterest. A smile stretched wide on her face.

She stares at her phone, head down with fingers racing, typing away at the small keyboard below the rather humorous text message that she sends but she still never directs her attention to the slide projected ahead of her that has a full page of notes.

Do classes that are not interactive contribute to the rather low graduation rates on campus?

The teacher stands in front of the class, rambling. Although I am on task, I cannot help but question what point we’re on?

The teacher’s mouth is moving at a thousand-words-per-minute pace, and I can’t seem to keep up. Maybe that’s why most of the students in class have somehow given up and diverted their thought processes somewhere else.

The classroom should be a place where students can engage with each other and the teacher. I reluctantly raise my hand, only to have the teacher express that he’d answer my question at the end of the class.

As 6:15 appeared on the clock, the teacher asks if we have any questions. Silence. Soon after, everyone rushes out of class. I follow after and the teacher stops me.

“Your question, young lady?”

“I forgot.”