One of the big perks that college has over high school is being recognized as a responsible adult. We no longer need constant guidance to learn and finish assignments.
In my experience, if I ask for a study guide, I’m instructed to “know the chapter.” At first this bothered me, but I get it. I’m a 22-year-old college student. After 19 years of schooling, my teachers no longer “hold my hand” and they shouldn’t have to.
I have only one problem with this: attendance policies. We are being denied the conveniences of high school and the conveniences of college. For the most part, I have good attendance in all of my classes. This is probably because I genuinely like my professors and the material they teach. But seriously, who’s idea was it to make an attendance rule?
Clearly I’m not talking about the kids who show up for the first day of class, the day of the midterm, and the day of the final. I’m talking about regular kids who are working hard and rarely miss an assignment.
Some professors have strict attendance policies. For example, if a student misses more than three classes, they could risk dropping down a whole letter grade. I’m all for having a strong work ethic, but I find rules like these to be a little extreme.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought we paid the professors to teach us, not for the services of truancy cops. Students pay a lot of money to attend their classes at CMU. Whether we are working three days worth of double shifts in one week, racking up our loans, or begging our parents for money, CMU professors get their cut.
I was aware of the tremendous amount of debt I was signing up for when I began my college career and I’m fine with it. Truly, in my opinion, college is one of the best investments a person can make. After all, you have to spend money to make money.
My point is, if we are spending literally thousands of dollars a year on our education, shouldn’t we have the power to decide how we learn? I’m not saying skipping class is a good thing, but sometimes it must be done.
I don’t understand why we have to check in with our professors as if they are our parents. If I wake up feeling terrible, the last thing I want to do is email my professor an apology for being unhealthy. I’m an adult. If I don’t feel like going to class, I shouldn’t have to go.
Even if we didn’t have to worry about attendance policies, I’d still go to class at least 90 percent of the time. I’m paying for my education pretty much on my own and I’d like to make the most of it.
If we are supposed to be adults and we are paying for these classes, we shouldn’t HAVE to do anything. Adults have to pay for the consequences of their actions. If I don’t learn the material because I miss too many classes, that’s my choice and my problem.
I’m tired of being stuck in this strange limbo between childhood and adulthood. Maybe my super senioritis is kicking in. Maybe I’m out of line. But maybe, there’s a professor reading this and considering changing his attendance policy.
l
kgoddeyn@mavs.coloradomesa.edu