College is an expensive affair. It is an investment in one’s future; the effort one invests will be returned later in life. However, as a freshman, we are getting thrown into the base level classes—which is understandable because we need to have that firm foundation before pursuing any form of higher education in specific subject areas. Yet those base level classes are typically huge lecture hall type courses. As freshman, we know it is our job to do well in school, but in those lecture halls it becomes increasingly difficult to pay attention or even motivate ourselves to attend class.
Imagine sitting in a lecture hall, made up of approximately 300 students, all settled into a decent sized auditorium with one single teacher located at the front of the room, on the left side, standing behind a podium. There is a PowerPoint being projected above the students’ heads, which is where the majority of the class material is located. As a student sitting in a seat located on the upper level deck, this is not an effective way to learn new course material and have the ability to ask questions. You pull out your note taking materials and the people surrounding you cause a bustle as they do the same. The person behind you however, chooses not to take notes and instead listens to music through their obnoxiously loud headphones. This is the first distraction. During the lesson, the person sitting next to you begins to tap their pen against their desk in frustration, creating a rhythmic beat completely capturing your attention; therefore this creates a second distraction. The people sitting in front of you must be a couple, because he drapes his arm across her shoulders and they begin to whisper in muffled tones about who-knows-what, giggling a bit here and there, therefore creating yet another distraction as your mind begins to wander, either blocking out the existence of any significant other, or reminding you of every significant other you have ever experienced. Now imagine that there is also a window located on the side wall of the lecture hall, and every time the course material gets dry, your eyes automatically avert to that window, silently watching all the passersby as they go about their lives, wishing you were out there rather than inside your lecture hall; creating another huge distraction.
Finding the motivation to go to such a class is a part of the college experience and having to get out of bed in the morning for such a class is a major problem. Surrounded by so many, no one would even notice if you didn’t show up for one class, not a big deal, right? But then that mindset sticks and soon every day continues as such and before you know it, you haven’t been to class in two weeks and all that money you are spending on an education begins to feel like a waste.
