[brudgers]

"It's my job to take responsibility for getting what I want out of my classes, and while I think that's generally a solid policy..."

You instead are looking for excuses. If you went on to say that you had one bad professor, and backed that up with some meaningful examples of how this person committed unconscionable sins of pedagogy and abused puppies and kittens, then perhaps, some venting might be understandable as an exception to a deeply practiced value of personal responsibility for your learning.

But when the bad professors are legion and the alleged offenses petty and trifling, the claim to virtue seems suspect.

To expect a professor to spend time twiddling their thumbs waiting for someone to drop by and complain that their grade was unfair and their life thereby ruined is a bit absurd. Office hours are times when appointments are available.

Out in the world of money, the answers aren't in the back of the book. When something is wrong a professional must figure it out, themselves. Learning how to struggle is important. Good professors take their students where they need to go. Some go with a smile. Others must be dragged.