This is written for the hustlers, the strugglers, and the overachievers. The ones who feel like they can’t catch a break. Instead of cutting sleep, food, exercise, or time with God because of stress or fatigue, we should consider cutting class.
This is a fine line to walk. I’m not promoting irresponsibility and I don’t take for granted the privilege of going to a school that holds in-person classes. We are called to be students. However, that is not our whole identity.
I know students who have walked to class with a fever, afraid of infracting the attendance policy; students sitting stone-faced in class only a few hours after a break-up, trying to “hold it together”; students who take a insane amount of credits, and run from place to place, unable to start homework until after 10:00 pm.
Some could say that in each of these situations, the student has agency to prevent such circumstances: Be healthier, decide it’s not best to break up on a Sunday night if you have an 8:00 am on Monday, take a more manageable class load, and so on and so forth. But we can’t always choose our situations. Some of us struggle with poor health despite our best preventative measures. I guarantee you that there is never a great time to break up. And sometimes 21 credits a semester is simply a necessity in order to graduate on time.
Taking a day to collect your wits is a more effective and helpful use of time than drudging through each class, unable to absorb information because of the stress you are under. I’d rather be in a group project with someone who is honest with me about what is going on and their own limitations, than just assume everyone has the same level of productivity and health and is just choosing to be lazy.
The negative consequences of running your body and soul into the ground aren’t hard to understand, especially during our COVID-19 era.
The recent COVID-19 procedures have removed some stigma from staying home for a sick day, but even so, the attendance policies of many classes seem arbitrary. Some of my classes have a strict three-excused-absences policy, others have no attendance policy at all. Most professors at this college are reasonable and understand when we go through particular trials, but even so, I think this should be a conversation we continue with our professors, and vice versa.
I think this same principle should apply to instructors as well. I realize the concept of a “self-care” day is unpopular among those who have worked through pain, discomfort, mental instability, and stress. I applaud all instructors and people who make the education here at Hillsdale possible at great sacrifice to their own comfort. However, I would much rather have a professor who canceled class and then came back refreshed and able to teach at a higher level. We all know that overwhelmed professors are difficult to follow and perform for. This could open up a better channel of communication between professors and students, and allow us to help each other be better at the things we’re called to do. This could bring a more accurate understanding of the person on the other side of the classroom. College is a partnership, after all.
Maybe it’s arrogant to assume we can package ourselves into Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedules. Sometimes, providence has other plans. And I’ve never heard of stoicism heralded as the most emotionally, physically, and spiritually healthy way of life.
Some of us are limping to the finish line every day, and that’s okay. We, as an educational community of learners and instructors, can help each other by considering the reasons for skipping class. We are students, but we are humans first.
Victoria Nuñez is a junior studying English.
