Trust me, I get it. Getting enough sleep is important. Studying for an upcoming exam is crucial. Okay, maybe you don't feel well. I totally understand these reasons for skipping class, it happens sometimes. Key word = sometimes. But honestly, we shouldn't even be skipping class sometimes. We should find a good spot between seldom and never in our absences from our classes.
Ugh, I know, it's difficult- your professor might be a little slow, there may not be anything important scheduled on the syllabus, or the class might just be outright boring. Yet these should not hold you back from your education and making constant absences a habit. Make it a priority to go to class despite what are often insignificant excuses you create in your head that prevent you from going.
If a serious issue like an illness arises, obviously that should hold you back from going. But take a nap in your free time and schedule time at the library for your studying rather than allowing these justifications to control you from not going to class. Disregard your dissatisfaction for the class, no matter what the reasoning may be, and just go. Here's why:
1. It can become a habit
Once you realize how fun it might be to not go to class, you'll think it's reasonable to do it again in the future, and again, and again. But you're just setting yourself up for a terrible routine where you come up with the littlest excuses to skip classes. Take your classes seriously and don't get sucked into a hole that'll be difficult to get out of.
2. You're practically throwing money away
This is pretty obvious, but many don't consider it. Remember how much your parents pay for school before you consider skipping class. Try to do the math behind it. Be grateful for the money they put towards your education by putting it to good use.
3. You're missing potentially important information
What if your professor is cancelling a future class? Your test got cancelled? You have a new paper due by the end of the week? You wouldn't know any of these things if you miss your class, and it would be pretty embarrassing if you showed up to that future class, studied for that cancelled test or didn't know about that paper. Gain some FOMO to motivate you.
4. Your professor won't have a favorable impression of you
When you're in need of a letter of recommendation, you can't even consider going to the professors of the classes you constantly skipped because what would they have to say about you? Don't let your professor embrace the rage of Ross Geller- get on your teacher's good side and just go to class.
5. Your grade might be impacted
If the syllabus has attendance as a pretty great portion of your grade, skipping class will have a nasty effect on your final grade. Plus, if you're on a borderline between two grades and want to persuade your professor to give you the higher of the two, they won't be so convinced to give it to you. Become a prompt student and watch your GPA grow.
6. You'll have to make up all of that work, anyway...
When you skip class, you're not skipping the notes and homework that comes with it. It will haunt you and you know it.
7. ...and will have to teach yourself the material
You know your professor won't reteach it to you in their office hours. And nobody in your class can teach, what might be difficult, material like your professor can. You might as well go.
8. That boring lecture might just be advantageous
You might be in a class that goes towards your major, or is just beneficial overall. You might be learning something that will really help you in the future or even your career, and it would be a shame to choose a nap over that.
9. You're taking advantage of an education that many would love to have
Not everybody gets to go to college like you do. Not everybody can say they learn new (and often interesting things) everyday. Not everybody has the opportunities that you have, so don't take advantage of them. There are so many people who would do anything to be in your position. Don't take that for granted!
10. You're just worsening your time management skills
When you skip class, you are proving that there are more important things than your classes, which is kind of ironic, because isn't that why you go to school in the first place? Missing class means you're giving into an unnecessary event that shouldn't be above your education. Make a checklist, plan your time, and get everything done around your class times, not during them.
