I look up from my computer and stare at the clock — only 25 more minutes of class. I tune back into the lecture on the rise of the Ottoman Empire as the professor announces that nothing past 1800 will be on the next exam.

Everyone around me scribbles, “Don’t study past 1800.” At long last, our professor releases us, and I pack up my stuff. Two days later, I am back in the same seat, counting down the minutes until lunch.

Maybe I am uniquely disinterested or cynical, but these past four years have left me uninspired. If I asked friends to name all of the clubs they are in or all the internships they have had, they would be able to answer almost immediately. I asked 10 friends to name the classes they took sophomore year, and the most that anybody was able to list offhand was seven out of 10. What happened to us? Academics have become only a diminutive fraction of our college experience.

Part of the problem is systematic. Georgetown’s status relies largely on having professors leading in their fields of research. Therefore, the university uses these standards when making hiring decisions and determining tenure. Professors must focus relentlessly on publishing so that they can gain financial security and stability at an institution. While they may have loved teaching or still do, there simply isn’t enough time in the day to commit fully to both teaching and research. If their teaching is sloppy, they risk getting low professor ratings. If their research is sloppy, they risk getting fired.

On the other hand, an employer will look at a GPA and a resume listing a student’s “leadership positions and work experience” rather than at the depth of his engagement in class materials. This means that students are pressured to get involved in clubs and to find internships while also getting good grades. All of this takes a good deal of time; a student might need to read the Sparknotes version of “The Leviathan” before class if he cannot spend four hours the night before reading the book.

It’s sad, too, because Georgetown has all of the ingredients for a healthier engagement in classes. Georgetown professors have committed their lives to gaining knowledge and passing it on to the world. Georgetown students are brilliant, well-rounded and driven: eager to learn at a great university and committed to doing so almost continuously for four years.

Georgetown brings everyone together and provides an operating budget of $1.1 billion to facilitate this learning. So, the next time you find yourself sitting in class, scrolling down your newsfeed as you wait for class to end, ask yourself: Is this really what I envisioned class to be?

If you aren’t satisfied, there are a few ways that we can try to make a change.

Part of the change must come from the way classes are taught, the design of the core curriculum and perhaps even the material of the classes themselves.

The Designing the Future initiative is doing good work on this front, but students must show that we are eager to try new modes of learning. Additionally, we can demand that our professors be chosen not just for their research in their field, but also for their ability to engage students and pass on their knowledge.

But, ultimately, most of the change must originate in our own behavior. I have gotten the most out of classes in which I have invested the most. This might sound cliche, but we can’t expect our teachers to make a class about more than just a grade if we don’t. Instead, if we do the reading, engage the material and show a thirst for knowledge, then our professors will almost certainly meet us there.

This school isn’t static; it changes constantly to meet our expressed wants and desires. Therefore, it is up to us to dream of a place greater than what we have now and to figure out how to get there.

Philip Dearing is a senior in the College.