Basic Lack of Responsibility

I submitted final grades for my students this week, and already one student is unhappy.  The most amazing email showed up in my inbox:

"I dont understand how a 75% overall on three tests and a paper equal a c/d grade. thought it was a c. I missed ONE class all semester due to weather. The clicker points oviously mean alot to get them right? Good thing I have A's and A/B's in all my other courses. I guess it was a mistake to take this class, escpecially to fill a requirement."

"Clickers" are electronic quiz devices we use.  I put a question up on a PowerPoint and students enter their answers through a small electronic device.

He is right that 75% is a C, but he's ignoring the clicker component of his grade, which is clearly stated on the syllabus as being equally weighted against any single paper or exam.

So, yes, the clickers were important.  And, yes, it was important to get them right.  I'm there to teach them about history, not how to push random buttons on a device.  I know.  I'm demanding.

As for the last sentence, I'm not even sure of the meaning.  Was he expecting the class to be easier because it's a gen. ed. requirement, and most of the students in the class don't really want to be there?  Welcome to adulthood, where you will be expected to do things you don't really like on a regular basis.

I explained to him what the syllabus says about clicker scores, and then suggested that perhaps his real mistake was not taking my class seriously.  Yes, you have to not only show up, but you have to be prepared.  That means opening that great big textbook and investing real time reading the assignments, rather than just cramming the bits that are on exam review sheets.

It means you're a grown-up.  Welcome to the real world.