Earlier this week, one of the most uncomfortable things happened in my 8 AM class. Roughly 30 minutes before the end of the period, the professor made an announcement that he was going to end class early and make Wednesday’s class this week optional. His explanation was simple and fair: no one was paying attention or cared about being in class.
As such, he felt that there was absolutely no need to keep anyone there if people were not going to participate or engage in the class. He could not have been fairer or more matter-of-fact. There was no anger or resentment in his voice, just a simple acknowledgment that it is the week before finals, and he assumed that meant students had just given up on the year.
I was shocked. Not because he cancelled class, but because even with that, half the students in the room didn’t look the least bit disappointed in themselves. Even myself, a student who has attended every class session and has tried to be an active participant, felt disappointed. It was embarrassing, and it illustrated something that begs to be written about, especially this time of year.
Students should go to class the week before finals.
Look, as a fellow college student, I get it. Things get to be overwhelming, you have 5 essays due on the same day, and you haven’t even begun studying for that final exam that is worth 40% of your grade in the class. Finals week is hard, and the week leading up to it is especially difficult given all the looming assignments and anxiety.
Still, that doesn’t give you the right to completely stop trying and putting forth an effort in your classes.
I’m sure most of you who are still reading at this point probably think I’m going to go on a rant about how expensive school is and what a waste of money it is for you to be skipping classes. Well, you’re wrong.
While I do believe this is true, and it’s disappointing that those thousands of dollars are going to waste, that isn’t the reason why you should feel motivated to go to class. You should go, because you genuinely have an interest in learning and because you respect your professors.
I probably lost a lot of my readers with that first point above, because the truth is, many students go to class for the attendance grade, not because they want to learn the material. You may try to argue this, but I challenge you to think about the number of kids who sit on their computers the entire class period and don’t pay attention; that pretty much says it all.
There may be some academic requirements you need to fulfill and that is why you resort to putting certain classes on your schedule, but at the end of the day, YOU select those classes for yourself.
You have the ability to read the course guide, and the syllabus, and to decide if this is a class you are genuinely interested in taking. Maybe you haven’t done that in the past and that’s why you don’t like your classes, and if that’s the case, you should start doing it.
Most importantly though, you should go to class during finals week because you respect your professors.
I’m not sure if any of you have been in the situation I was in for this 8 AM class, but if you have, you may agree with me that it’s a horrible feeling to experience.
Sure, I felt disappointed and embarrassed for myself and my fellow classmates, but I also felt horrible for this professor. Here is someone who chose to become an educator, who devoted hours and years of time in their life to teach students about the material he feels passionate about, and yet nobody cares.
It’s not just the students waking up to get to that class, either. He has to set his alarm too, arrange a class schedule, and show up ready to lecture and lead a class discussion. Worst of all? He is the one who cares the most, puts forth the greatest effort, and is being disrespected the most.
You may consider this article a vent session, and in part, that’s what it is.
However, the larger take-away I hope you–student reader–gather from this piece is that your classes matter, even the week before finals. Shocking, I know! But they do.
If you happen to be someone who hasn’t been attending classes or doesn’t plan to, I urge you to do so and not put yourself or your professor through the experience I had in my 8 AM class on Monday. Don’t subject yourself to that embarrassment and disappointment, and do not put your professor through that discomfort.
And for those of you who feel similarly to me, and have been attending those classes and participating, keep it up. You may not feel like it matters, but I’m here to tell you it does, and that above all, your professors really appreciate it.
