Waking up and going to class is a struggle many students relate to. Staying in a warm bed and the comfort of sleep is so tempting. Plenty of students succumb to this temptation, but most students groggily get ready to make it to class on time. But what is this invisible force that makes students motivated? Most material and lectures are posted on canvas nowadays, and a quick text to a classmate can get a student whatever extra notes they need. The answer is grades.
Some classes, especially 1000-level, have some sort of grade based on attendance. Multiple absences can add-up to a detrimental and sometimes unfixable mark on a student’s final grade.
Many students already take attendance as seriously as grades. Freshman Bella Valencia shared her perspective on harsh attendance, saying “Personally, I make an effort to show up, so attendance doesn’t affect me.” Harsh attendance may not disturb Valencia’s current school life, but she continues to say that she is “fully supportive” of attendance being grade related. Valencia is a biology major, which results in classes being significantly more lecture-based, and may need further professor instruction. Obviously, class is the main thing students go to college for. Although many students should be able to have a social life outside of class, academics should be their main concern. Valencia’s attitude stems from a source of appreciating her education and holding in high regard.
Valencia’s perspective on attendance may be different than many, because of her personal experiences. Overall, it’s hard to understand if attendance should actually be related to grades at all. Journalism and film major, Jackson Taylor, says that all his professors have different philosophies on attendance, just like students.
Most professors are extremely understanding and responsible when considering attendance; they understand the need of balance between life and school. But despite this, Taylor still thinks attendance should be a high priority. “I feel like if you’re paying for it, you should kind of care about attendance,” Taylor said.
This reasoning can also be the main argument for why attendance should be more lenient. If students are paying for their classes, shouldn’t they be able to decide where they spend their energy? Most attendance arguments can be denounced by the simple fact that college students are adults, and they should be able to decide whether something is important to them.
Professors may never decide to give students the benefit of the doubt and let them skip any class they want. But it’s only because they want students to succeed, and missing classes does the opposite of that. Professors, although it may not seem like it, mostly have students’ interests at heart. They care about who they’re teaching, and they want students to be interested. To accompany this, professors need to understand that not all missed classes are malicious. It’s about finding a middle ground between student and professor, to create the least amount of stress for everyone.
