One of the reasons people like me think that college is better than high school is because every semester you completely change classes, and thus change the people you have to be around. In high school, most of the time you're stuck with the same kids for the entire year, and that can get annoying real quick, especially if you get stuck in a shitty (most of the time assigned) seat. In college, not only do you get to change seat every semester, but you get to literally pick your destiny when you pick your seat for the semester.
After my first semester at college, I quickly realized just how crucial picking the RIGHT seat was for a class. It truly plays a big part in how the class is going to turn out for you. When picking your seat, you have to take several factors into account, such as the teacher, the students, and yourself. You really only have the first week to determine your seat before they become finalized and everyone has their "unofficial-official" seat. For some people, that means three classes, for others two, and for the not so lucky people, one class. The first week is kind of the time for everyone to scope out everything and everyone and strategize on which seat they want in the class. It's a good skill to have, because if you suck at it and end up with a shitty seat the first week, you're going to be stuck in a shitty seat for the whole semester. Let's go through some examples and strategies about picking the right seat.
I go to a rather small school, so a lot of my classes have around 15-30 people in them, and some major gen-ed classes have about 80-100 people. These low numbers make picking the right set even more crucial. First of all, do you want to sit in the front or back of the class? A lot of us want to tell ourselves to sit in the front the first week because its a new semester and we actually want to be good students. However, if you get stuck in the front, prepare to be in the top 85% of people called on, and FORGET about ever doing anything but paying attention to the teacher, or else you will be the first person to get called out. Those two things ideas are enough for me not to want to sit in the front of the room. Also, I like putting my feet on the back on peoples desks if we're in a classroom, so the front doesn't really cut it for me.
Do you want to sit in the back? It might be a safer bet than the front for some people who like to observe the action more than being in it. There will be people to hide behind, you are most likely to be safe straying from the notes on your laptop and going on your phone, but, you might become one of the suspicious students to the teacher if you do that too often. If you are planning to sit in the back, however, you need to make sure to check the syllabus to see how much, if anything, class participation is worth. If you isolate yourself in the back and class participation is part of the grade, you might just be screwing yourself. Also, if you're like me and have to go to the bathroom during class, you have to get up and walk past EVERYONE on your way out, and then squeeze your way though EVERYONE on your way back in. It's just something to think about. I personally like sitting in the back because I don't like people looking at me or my laptop screen during class, and I like to be able to see everything.
The middle is always kind of safe bet. You're somewhere in between all and none of the action. You only get a little bit of the extremes from the front and the back. The middle is especially nice in the sides, like the middle left side of the room, or the middle right side of the room. A lot of people who don't know where to go usually try to non-awkwardly settle down in the middle. However, sometimes the middle can be a bit of a danger zone. You have to make sure you can see past the possibly big head of the person in front of you, and make sure the person behind you isn't the asshole who taps their pen on the desk the whole class, or chews gum in your ear like a cow, or doesn't do that annoying thing where they bounce their feet up and down on your desk (don't worry, I'm not one of those people). It has it's ups and downs, just like the front and the back does.
These are all just some simple considerations that should cross your mind when you enter that room on the first day of class and are left to determine your fate. I know that when the first day of classes for me comes, I'm going straight to the back on the side with a door closest to a bathroom (because my poor little bladder can't always make through and entire class). Where will you be sitting?
