I've been lucky (not really, keep reading) enough to take a few classes with professors who are probably the best in the world at what they do and found them r

I've been lucky (not really, keep reading) enough to take a few classes with professors who are probably the best in the world at what they do and found them really awful. You could tell they didn't want to be there and didn't really give a shit about anyone learning anything. Moreover, I think being really good at something makes it harder to teach, not easier. TAs are usually much better teachers. After all, they can still remember what it was like to not understand the material. Some of the best teachers I've had were at a community college, actually. I ended up taking community college classes for a couple years instead of going to high school and had a much better experience than at the "real" college I attended when I was older. That could have been a function of age though (by the time I went to a real college I was much more interested in girls and partying than learning anything).