To be there or not to be there’

This is something that has always puzzled me: when the first day of class rolls around and the syllabi are handed out, all homework is listed in the course schedule, there is a rubric for grading and, here’s the curious part, you are only allowed one to three absences.

What’s really disappointing is that part of our grade usually rests on our attendance to the class.

I know that I’m paying nearly $30,000 to attend a private Christian school, but sometimes things happen that are really good reasons for missing class. Some of these are not considered legitimate by a professor.

There are a lot of good reasons that we sometimes cannot make it to class. In college, it is a shame to say, we may not always have time for everything and while we are diligent with our work, sometimes we may have to skip one class to finish homework for another.

Other times, something may come up that is simply unexpected. We may be in the middle of a family crisis or can’t make it to class due to an illness that is not severe enough to go to a doctor but still bad enough to delay us. In the case of a commuter, if traffic is bad sometimes you arrive to class the second everyone is being let out.

I am not saying that we should boycott classes because they are in the way of our social lives, the newest episode of your favorite television show or simply because you do not feel like going. But we often have things to do that get in the way of classes and vice versa. It’s unfortunate but true.

The fact that we may not show up to class does not always mean that we do not understand the material that is being taught. If we can grasp the material well enough to pass we should not be penalized for absences.

By this point in our lives, we should be responsible for our actions, and if we decide not to come to class, it should not reflect in our grades. Rather, we should have a chance to show whether or not we have acquired the knowledge through homework and tests.