It's finally at a reasonable point in the semester to say, "ehh, I'm not feeling it today" and skip class. We've taken some notes, maybe already had an exam or two, and at this point we have a general idea of what happens in class enough to rationalize with ourselves that skipping isn't going to hurt too much.
I am SO guilty of skipping class to study, sleep, hang out with my favorite people, go get coffee, etc. Somehow I've only skipped one class this semester, but every time I skip someone will harass me & ask where I was. Usually I never feel guilty because 9 times out of 10 I will sleep before doing anything else, but lately I've had a major reality check on how much life costs.
Did you know groceries were so expensive? Even if you manage to spend only $20 per week on groceries, that's $80 in one month. Let's not mention other costs like eating out, drinks, coffee dates, it adds up! You spend probably somewhere around $100 a month on food & fun in your college years, probably more, so who's funding all this? Your tiny paycheck you make maybe twice a month that barely covers your fun money & phone bill.
When you skip class, it actually costs money. Someone is paying for you to go to college, and that someone probably has some student loans heading their way all too soon. So let's talk with our lovely friend Math to show us how much it costs to skip class:
Let's say you go to a school where tuition is around $20,000 yearly. (Not including room & board or a meal plan). There are two semesters in a year, so each semester is worth around $10,000. Each semester you take somewhere between 4-6 classes, so that's about $2,000 per class. Let's say you have block classes, so you have some classes 3 times a week and some 2 times a week. There are approximately 15 weeks in a semester (counting the weeks off you might have for holiday), so you have your Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes 45 times a semester, and your Tuesday/Thursday classes 30 times a semester. Each class you have 45 times is worth about $44 per class, and each class you have 30 times is worth $66.
So every time you skip class, you essentially throw away around $50. Let's say you skip 5 classes per semester - that's $250. Let's say you skip more than that, maybe eight classes per semester - that's $400. It's easy to think $50 isn't all that much money, but you know what you could be doing with $50? Going to a concert, buying a new pair of shoes, having a nice dinner with your best friend, getting fancy groceries, stocking up on stupid things like makeup and shampoo, and so many other useful things!
When you go to Grove City College, where tuition is $16,630, each semester costs $8,315. Each class costs $1,663. Each Monday/Wednesday/Friday class costs you $40, and each Tuesday/Thursday class costs you $48. Wouldn't you rather go to a concert than go to class? Answer - yes, but essentially you'll be paying for that concert twice by skipping class to go to it. Along with the other interest that comes with your student loans, and suddenly you've got all these bills and not a single concert to afford for about four years.
Long story short -- next time you want to skip class, do something that's worth essentially putting $50 through the shredder.
