Spring Break
Students Should Not Skip Classes
Dafna Laskin
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Commentary
I'm here to talk to you about something dangerously important. This epidemic infects our daily lives, pervading our sense of morality and clouding our minds with thoughts of premeditated indiscretions, generally bringing out our poor judgment. I'm talking about skipping class
My name is Dafna and I skip class. I'm being honest because we all need to face the fact that we can't be perfect all the time. There are perfectly legitimate excuses for skipping class, whether it be illness, family emergencies, or even a severe hangover. But I think the most important excuses for skipping class are the ones that make sense - the times when we're perfectly healthy and are able to attend but choose not to. The psychology behind these decisions to skip is fascinating and reveals a lot about ourselves and where we see ourselves going.
My own personal belief is this - I am paying the tuition of a full-time student. A full-time student is classified as carrying at least 12 credits a semester. If I only carry 12 credits a semester, I need to attend all those classes in order to receive complete educational compensation for the roughly $17,000 ($30,000 for you out-of-staters) I spend each semester. Think of it as breaking even.
But when I'm carrying 23 credits a semester, as I was this past fall, I'm only responsible for the financial guilt of 12 credits - after that, each credit is sort of like a kick-back. In essence, I don't feel like I'm paying for these classes because technically, I'm going above and beyond the basic requirement. So my decision is that I only need to attend enough classes to fill that 12 credit minimum. As long as I go to enough classes each week to equal the amount of classes in 12 credits, I'm totally fine.
Obviously, I can't skip that many classes per week, and I don't want to, because I'm here to get an education and not just the degree - but the sort of calm rationalization of the entire situation says a lot about how we look at the importance of college.
My name is Dafna and I skip class. I'm being honest because we all need to face the fact that we can't be perfect all the time. There are perfectly legitimate excuses for skipping class, whether it be illness, family emergencies, or even a severe hangover. But I think the most important excuses for skipping class are the ones that make sense - the times when we're perfectly healthy and are able to attend but choose not to. The psychology behind these decisions to skip is fascinating and reveals a lot about ourselves and where we see ourselves going.
My own personal belief is this - I am paying the tuition of a full-time student. A full-time student is classified as carrying at least 12 credits a semester. If I only carry 12 credits a semester, I need to attend all those classes in order to receive complete educational compensation for the roughly $17,000 ($30,000 for you out-of-staters) I spend each semester. Think of it as breaking even.
But when I'm carrying 23 credits a semester, as I was this past fall, I'm only responsible for the financial guilt of 12 credits - after that, each credit is sort of like a kick-back. In essence, I don't feel like I'm paying for these classes because technically, I'm going above and beyond the basic requirement. So my decision is that I only need to attend enough classes to fill that 12 credit minimum. As long as I go to enough classes each week to equal the amount of classes in 12 credits, I'm totally fine.
Obviously, I can't skip that many classes per week, and I don't want to, because I'm here to get an education and not just the degree - but the sort of calm rationalization of the entire situation says a lot about how we look at the importance of college.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Tim
posted 3/16/07 @ 12:38 PM EST
Sometimes you do get more out of a class by skipping it. I've had classes before where the instructor was so painfully awful that I learned the material on my own and still got a solid grade in the class. (Continued…)
Stef
posted 3/16/07 @ 3:11 PM EST
When I took Drama 101, I quickly found out that our class did nothing but re-read assigned readings from the previous class. How difficult is it to read and comprehend a 30 page play?!? I skipped [i]every single class[/i], read all of the assigned readings, handed in all of my homework assignments, took every exam, and pulled a B+ in the course. (Continued…)
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