Shockingly I did not write a blog entry on this earlier, but let’s just say I never skipped an actual college class before. I did start a thread about this last year. The ONLY times I ever missed was when something serious happened. And all the days I had a serious issue, I still badly wanted to show up.

My first year of college at Indiana Tech, I made sure I went to all my classes. There was no denying I was a tad late to my 8am class a few times (my Mom/Dad was driving me at the time to school) because we’d leave very early, but sometimes there were unexpected accidents all over the place, new construction popping up, or just really bad weather where accidents were all over the place. But outside of that, I came to all my classes and did not miss. I missed two days of classes my 2nd semester (I had a doctor’s excuse) because I was having surgery and was completely knocked out for a few days where I couldn’t get out of bed. However, I did try returning as quickly as possible because it was killing me to miss class. Despite being excused from classes, I still tried to come bleeding everywhere from a surgery, but my English teacher told me to just go home and I’m still excused. Other than the surgery, I still came to every college class, but I wasn’t as devoted to coming to every class since I didn’t like going to college there.

Once I went away to college at Purdue University main campus, in West Lafayette, IN, I said to myself that I’m NEVER going to skip classes and I’m NEVER going to be late to class. I lived in a dorm/apartment nearby, so I didn’t have to get a ride to my classes and deal with traffic issues (the only thing I had to do was walk another way to avoid an area closed off (police heard a report of a bomb in the area, which was a hoax), and sometimes try to avoid those religious people dressed up who would hand you some sort of green book (I’m somewhat religious myself, but those people were weird IMO)). Otherwise, while being at Purdue, I went eight semesters (including one summer semester) of never missing a single class. All my friends thought I was crazy because they’d skip a class at least once a week. Every single optional attendance day we had, I went to class. I had days where I had stomach aches, terrible headaches, really bad colds, etc., but as long as I could walk, I still went to class. I had days where I was burning up, but STILL went to class. Just nothing was going to keep me from missing class. I had many classes at 7:30am, and I still got up on time for class every morning. Even when we had a massive snowstorm where classes were eventually canceled, I still walked outside to classes. I went all the way until March 2007 (I started college at Purdue in August 2003) without missing a class.

Here’s what happened. On a Sunday in early March, I had a really strange feeling that’s hard to explain. If I tried to walk, I wasn’t able to balance myself. I had a feeling where if I was laying down in one position, I’d feel fine after a while, but once I turn my head, I would get extremely sick again. If I tried walking somewhere, I wasn’t able to stand up and just kept collapsing. I went pretty much my entire Sunday without eating. I was hoping I’d get better by Monday, so I could go to classes, but actually felt worse. I called my parents, told them everything. I tried to get my stuff ready and go to class, but I could barely walk and fell down several times. My parents were coming to pick me up. I told ALL my instructors my condition, and they told me I definitely shouldn’t come to class and they’d definitely excuse me (all my instructors knew me very well and knew I wasn’t the type to ever skip their class). I was actually going to still try going to class and if I collapsed on the ground outside, oh well, at least I tried going to class, but no one wanted me to take that chance (I was so determined to go to class). My Dad took me home (he was coming back from a trip), and I had to see the doctor the next day (thankfully all of this happened during my slowest week ever, where I had no class Thursday and just test preparation in classes). I went to the doctor and got prescribed medicine (My doctor said I was being effected by some virus from the Middle East, and it may take a bit to get better). I did get a doctor’s excuse/note which I showed to all my instructors. I was finally able to walk and somewhat do stuff on Thursday, so I asked my Dad to take me back to college, because there was NO way I wanted to miss the lab practical for C++ programming. My Programming instructor told me she could re-schedule it for me because she’s familiar with that condition, but I said no thanks, I’m coming to class regardless of how I felt. I actually did well on the lab practical too (finished way before anyone else and got a perfect). Thankfully I was completely better the next week.

After missing 3 days of classes due to a serious issue (thankfully I didn’t miss a lot), I never missed a single college class after, despite all the bad things that happened. For an example, my senior project was not going to work and there was really no point in me still going to lab, but I still went to every single lab. I had to return for college for two more semesters. Although I was taking just one lab (one semester it was at 7:30am, next semester it was 3:30pm), I still got there on time (usually I was there early) and never skipped/missed.

Some ask me why I care so much about going to every class. This may not be the reason, but I once had a dream I was arrested for not going to class once, and I really wouldn’t want that to happen to me for skipping class. I personally feel every class is important to me. If I miss one class, I’m missing out on some important knowledge I’ll never hear elsewhere, so I make sure I go to every class. Although my programming teacher would put everyone to sleep (which is why most people skipped), I still made sure I went to class. I feel going to class is a good habit to get into because you or your parents are paying a lot of money to go to classes (I forget how much it is you are paying to go to each college class). Also, I signed up for a college class during a particular time, meaning that time SHOULD be available to me anytime. What else am I going to do if I don’t go to class? I feel going to class is one of the most important things in this world, so I just go. I enjoy going since it gets me out of my dorm room/apartment. I get to socialize with some students and meet new people by going to class (a college classroom is where I meet most people). Professors really liked me because I always went to class and they knew I would never skip. When I go to optional attendance days, I normally get some hint as to what will be on the test. Personally, I feeling skipping class is stupid and most of those people deserving the bad grade they get.

So anyway, I’m very proud to say I never actually skipped an actual college class unless I had a serious problem. It makes me so upset because I wanted to go to every single class in college, so I could tell everyone one of my most memorable college moments was never missing a single class. People would probably think I was something special if I went to every class. Regardless, I recommend to everyone they try to not skip class (unless there are extremely ill and cannot remove), because every day you will learn something important in the classroom.

Did anyone else go through college without skipping classes, or did you skip some?

Btw, this is my 50th blog entry.