Skipping Class

[B-612]

So...

I've been having some severe health problems this semester (starting fall semester), a symptom of which is insomnia that sometimes prevents me from sleeping at all up to two days in a row. Attendance isn't required on lecture days in one of my classes, let's call it Humanities--only in discussion groups--and I've missed several Humanities lectures due to doctor's appointments as well as hesitance to drive after no sleep. I've been able to attend all of my Humanities discussion groups, I do all the readings so I participate in group discussion eagerly, and I've made high As on all of my papers thus far and a 98% on my midterm, so my absences don't seem to be affecting my grades. However, I can't help but feel slightly guilty about missing several classes.

Do you all have classes where attendance isn't mandatory and if so, how do you gauge when absences are appropriate?

[xsuzheartx]

Well perhaps things are different at your school but if attendance isn't mandatory, then I wouldn't feel guilty about it--especially if the reason was due to something legitimate like health problems. We have a few classes where the notes are posted online (rarely helpful) and attendance isn't required. People show up because they don't have anything better to do or they're already on campus.

[Eigen]

I couldn't tell from your post... Is this a masters program, or undergrad?

If the former, missing classes might effect your relationship with professors, which is more important in a graduate program. If the latter, I wouldn't worry about it.

Either way, it's not like you've been missing them "just because", you have good reasons.

[B-612]

I couldn't tell from your post... Is this a masters program, or undergrad?

If the former, missing classes might effect your relationship with professors, which is more important in a graduate program. If the latter, I wouldn't worry about it.

Either way, it's not like you've been missing them "just because", you have good reasons.

Thanks for your question, Eigen. It's a master's level program but the class isn't in my area of focus and the professor isn't a regular member of my graduate department's faculty, so thankfully I am less concerned than I would normally be about that. I'm a total goober when it comes to classes where the relationship with the professor is important to me, though. I once staggered across campus to my department's building with a skyrocketing fever and the stomach flu just to turn a provide a hard copy of my paper to a professor because I thought it seemed more professional than just e-mailing it as an attachment. Wah wah waaah

[neuropsychosocial]

Do you all have classes where attendance isn't mandatory and if so, how do you gauge when absences are appropriate?

I've never taken a class where attendance was mandatory, but attendance is always expected and classes are small enough that absences are noted. (And a large percentage of the course grade is usually based on participation.) My personal scale is: if the thought of telling the professor that I'm not going to class is less anxiety-producing than the thought of getting to/sitting through class, then I don't go. It might be worth dropping the professor an email or stopping by office hours to note that you're having some "health problems" so that the professor doesn't think that you're wantonly skipping.

I also hope that you're under medical care and taking care of yourself. As a undergrad, I had a health crisis that included insomnia as a side-effect, and even after I got better, the learned insomnia stuck around. It was awful. It's hard to describe what it's like to "live" on so little sleep - and it's not really living at all. Even if it feels like a symptom or side-effect of your condition, keep tabs on it and perhaps try to treat it as an important health problem in its own right. I really wish that I had addressed it much earlier than I did, because it robbed me of a few years of my life.

[robot_hamster]

I have had both. Some classes, the professor takes attendance and gives a grade for "class participation". Other classes, the professor doesn't care if you show up or not and the powerpoint lectures are posted online. Obviously, it would be beneficial to come to class to hear what is being said about the slides... but sometimes you can get by without being there all that much. So if the class does not require attendance, I suppose I wouldn't worry about it too much. If I missed class, I missed class. More important than what the professor "thinks" about your attendance (or lack of attendance) would be whether or not you can understand the material without being there for the explanations that the professor provides during class.