Without fail, just about this time, right before spring break I think to myself: I deserve a day off, a few days off for that matter. Then, as if my inner thoughts were channeling some sort of cosmic energy for a response - I do get a day off, but not in the way I had imagined. Whoever coined the phrase "be careful for what you wish for" must have been speaking from personal experience.
It's week six, the time when teachers stop assuming that you're doing the work and start whipping out the friendly pop quizzes, the informal presentations, and the ungraded paper assignment "just to get a feel for your writing skills and where you are in the course." Right, and Barack Obama's my fifth cousin once removed.
I mean seriously, it's a conspiracy. Nothing happens for five freaking weeks and all of a sudden - wham! You get a ton of work upside the head. That's the week your car breaks down, your meal plan's down to $1.46, and you find out that the series of migraines you've been having is not because of your loud and obnoxious neighbor, but because you grind your teeth when you sleep. And to top it off, the doctor's secretary says your co-pay for that migraine visit will be $112, thank you, and that they accept major credit cards. What? Couldn't I have just taken an Advil?
And that's when you want and need to attend to class. Two days off and your entire first half of the semester is looking sadder than a Britney meltdown. You need a major comeback. So you get up early, stay up late, and order up a couple of mocha lattes with a side of black to go. You sit upright, whip out the highlighters, and raise your hand high like you're the one filming the Secret Dry commercial. You're not being ridiculous; you're trying to make sure the teacher remembers you, trying to re-establish your position in the class - the same position you thought you didn't need to establish until you came back a to find someone else sitting in your corner spot of the room.
And let's not stop there. You know you can't just raise your hand and just spew at the mouth - you have to bring it, bring on all the studying and understanding and turn it into the most concise and poignant statement you've ever uttered in your academic career - the vultures around the room can sense your eagerness and would love nothing more than to see you make a fool of yourself. So you reach into the back end of your mental hard drive and pull out the theme song for Rocky V and see everyone in the room as the evil Russian. You didn't pull all nighters for 3 days straight not to win this fight.
And then it happens. The teacher calls on you, the room closes in on you, and your voice slips from your lips. You can't remember what you just said, but judging from the disappointed faces and the casual way in which the teacher resumes class as if you had never said a word tells you that you're safe. You're back, baby. It is business as usual.
But here is the real pay off. The next time you attend class, a number of people move aside, offering you a place to sit next to them. And all of a sudden the teachers call roll and check off your name without you even having to raise your hand. You smile inwardly and realize that you've not only regained your position, you've become part of community - a classroom community.
This is why it is important to attend class. This is not just because the teacher will mark down your grade otherwise, not just because you actually need to learn the material in order to pass. No, that's not why you must attend class, and I'll go so far as to say why you should want to attend class. The real reason why you should want to attend class is because you matter, your opinion matters, your ideas matter - your very presence (even if you do not say a word the entire semester) matters. If no other reason than to let others students know that they are not in this alone, you matter. We all have to do this learning thing. Isn't that why we enrolled in college? So why not do it together? Think about it the next time you want to miss class. You might not miss much. But you just might be missed after all.
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