When I came to college, I experienced that rush that comes with being completely independent. My parents were no longer influenced what time I woke up, went to sleep or if I went to class. Knowing it would be far too easy to slip into a pattern of habitually missing class, I made a goal: to not skip more than one class a month. This promise helped me drag myself out of bed when I’d stayed up too late chatting to my friends or watching TV. It motivated me to go to class even when I hadn’t done the work so at least I’d get the credit for attendance. I missed four classes last semester, which for some people may sound like a lot and for some may sound like nothing. Here are my reasons for skipping and whether I would do the same in the future.
1. Illness
Now I wasn’t horribly sick or anything, I just had a really nasty cold. I’d been suffering for two days and knew that if I didn’t get plenty of rest soon, it was going to get worse. So I went and saw my professor who was very understanding and I got to go home and sleep until I felt a lot better. I didn’t get sicker or lose more time in class or miss out on my weekend because I took the hour and half off. In my opinion, if you don’t feel well in your body or mind one day, skipping class is perfectly okay. Everyone needs a break, I just make sure that I save it for when I really feel miserable, not just because I don’t want to go.
2. Overslept
Last semester, I had a 10am class on a Friday and my dorm is a fifteen to twenty minute walk from where most of classes are. The night before, I forgot to set my alarm and woke up at 9:40. I knew that even if I threw clothes on and ran out the door, I would be significantly late. So I just didn’t go. I am not proud of that and now are far more diligent to make sure my alarm is set. For me, it’s not a good reason to miss class just because of oversleeping, especially when the class is at reasonable time.
3. Way too late night
I do theatre as extracurricular and last semester I had a very, VERY late night in the theater as it was the day before we opened. Once I got home, I knew there would be no way I could wake up for my 6am lecture and I’d just sleep through it. So I made the decision to set my alarm for later in order to make it to my other classes. This was a good decision for me as I was able to stay awake through my other classes and I didn’t miss anything vital from my first class. However it’s something I try to avoid doing often as I know it would be too easy to use any excuse.
4. Travelling
On the day before Thanksgiving break there was a class I needed to miss so I could get ready for my trip and finish up other work. Trips, visitors, one-time experiences, necessary appointments etc. are all things I am willing to skip class for. Sometimes there are things that are more important and I felt very little guilt over missing that class.
With the price of college tuition so high, I try to skip as little as possible to take full advantage of my expensive education. And I’d rather sit through a boring one-hour lecture than take up my free time trying to learn the new material. Of course this is my personal preference and everyone has differing opinions about skipping and what works for them. This article is not meant to tell you what you should do but rather to get you to think about what is best for you. For me that is relaxing my goal slightly to missing one day of class a month as opposed to just one class.
Good luck with second half of the semester everyone!