Faulty Alarms

I never missed a day in middle school. It sounds absurd, but my attendance was perfect. Then came high school, where my immune system declined and so did my perfect attendance. Ironically, the majority of the days I skipped high school was for academic reasons, either visiting a college or spending the day studying for an AP test instead of attending classes. My high school attendance was not perfect, but still praiseworthy. Now, in college, they all say it’s great because you don't technically have to go to class, and it’s also terrible because you don't technically have to go to class. In college, attendance is not technically mandatory because you won’t get in trouble with the law if you don’t attend, unlike grade school which is mandatory. So I could easily skip class each day. Especially the large lecture halls with around one hundred students, where the professor will not notice if a tiny 5’1” girl is sitting amongst the rows of chairs or not. It’s also super easy to oversleep and miss your class without even realizing, until you suddenly jump up and realize it ended three hours ago. From grade school all the way to high school, I became used to my mother walking in my room, dragging me out of bed, and telling me it was time to get to school. I was honestly afraid that I would sleep through every single alarm, because the only alarm that proved successful for me was the sound of my mother’s voice.

Honestly, I do not enjoy skipping classes. Though this sounds peculiar for an eighteen-year-old college student, it is most definitely true. Skipping a class, especially a more difficult college course, easily puts me very behind and struggling to catch up. Even if I can get notes from a friend or find them online, it still would not be as proficient as hearing a professor explain it in person. To me, it is more work to make up for the class than to just attend the period.

Specific to English 101, my attendance has been near perfect. Being a 9 am course, and me not being a morning person, it is definitely difficult for me to wake up each morning three times a week. However I only missed one class, in which I woke up with a fever and was suffering from bronchitis. In terms of participation, I will admit my participation is not stellar or extraordinary. Because English is not a true interest of mine, ideas do not come into thought as quickly as it does for others. So instead, I tend to merely listen to others’ ideas in order to spark my own. However I work tediously to get my work done outside of class and by the required deadline. Unfortunately, I would admit that my participation is based on my interest in the course or topic of discussion itself.