Should I Ditch Class Today?
You regain consciousness, but everything is still black. A deafening and incessant cadence pierces your eardrums. The crust between your eyelids hinders you from opening them completely. Your hand darts back and forth to find the source of this boisterous noise. In a swift plummet, your hand strikes a device that reads the time in which you’re supposed to awake.
If you haven’t guessed by now, this is the turmoil of waking up to go to class. Every morning we lay in our beds wishing it wasn’t true. At least that’s how it feels for me.
When I first began my college career, the freedom to not go was exhilarating. I kept thinking to myself, “You mean I have a choice now?” As time progressed, wakeup refusal turned into midday indifference. Soon I didn’t even have a reason to ditch, let alone a good one.
There were a few factors that contributed to my change of attitude as time went on. But it wasn’t until I started taking a statistics class that my demeanor completed its transformation.
I realized that by missing one class worth of lecture, I was completely in the dark about everything subsequent. I realized that if I was going to pass this class I needed to show up every day.
This epiphany doesn’t come for everyone though. With some, it comes too late.
Take it from me though. Just show up.
In college, it doesn’t matter how hung over you are, how high you just got or how little of a shit you give about the class. Just go, because it actually matters. A huge chunk of most class curriculums are participation so if you just show up, you’ve already secured a sizable percentage of your grade. It’s not like anyone’s going to kick you out of class (granted you don’t vomit). You’re the one paying so professors could care less if you actually retain any useful information. They say they care, but that’s debatable to an extent. Think about it though.
Would you take a paycheck and light it on fire? That’s basically what you’re doing every time you ditch class.
I’m not saying that it’s okay to just get hammered the night before then show up to class super hung over, either. Don’t expect to pass your classes using that method.
Showing up to class everyday has other benefits. Like for me in my stats class, going to every class is crucial to learning every ensuing day’s material. Good luck trying to get your professor to go over the material again. That’s basically begging for an academic professional to tell you to “Go fuck yourself” (in so many words.)
Besides, you don’t want to be the Wooderson-esque burnout of your school. Just try to get to class. It’d be a lot cooler if you did.
