10 GREAT REASONS TO CUT CLASS

By Sandra Choron

That was just an attention-getter; there are no good reasons to cut class. But most of you—you know who you are—are going to do it anyway, so consider this: why waste that precious gift of extra time? Sleeping late? Do it on the weekend. Video games? C’mon, you can find a better use for your time, even if all you want to do is unwind. We all need a break now and then. If you’re going to play hookey, here are some suggestions that will further your college career and minimize the guilt of having cut class, thereby making rationalization a snap.

1. Take a refresher course in goal orientation. If you’re headed toward a business degree, go hang out at a bank or a securities firm. Remember why this vocation appealed to you in the first place. If you’re pre-med, spend an hour in a hospital emergency waiting room. Look at the faces of the others there; someday you will help people just like them. Law students would do well to spend time viewing trials. Think about why you enrolled in college in the first place.

2. Teach something to someone else. They say that’s the best way to learn. Is there a sibling at home who would be thrilled to share in your interest and studies? Does that cute redhead need help in your best subject? Even if all you do is volunteer at the local homeless shelter and teach a kid how to tie his shoelaces, you’ll get back in touch with the importance of education—on any level.

3. Fix something that’s broken. Re-hang the poster. Re-boot the program. Glue something back together. Replace the bulb. Mend a relationship. Get a new alarm clock. Maybe you need to cut class because you need some time to catch up on the day-to-day stuff. Repairing something—from a sticking drawer to a friendship—will give you a feeling of accomplishment and hopefully enable you to move forward.

4. Do something spiritual. If you are a religious person, take time to reconnect with your spirit by visiting a church or temple or even a nearby shrine. Read your favorite portion of the Bible or peruse the Ten Commandments. (Do you know the Ten Commandments?) Agnostics and atheists are hardly excused from this assignment: Contemplate a rose, watch a bird, wade in a pond. Wiggle your toes in the mud. Spend time with a child; recall a time when you didn’t know the word ‘wonder’ yet you experienced it everyday. Take time to appreciate the beauty of the universe and the perspective it offers.

5. Go home. Surprise them (the parents). Just show up and tell them you love them and that you miss them and you just needed to let them know now because if college has thus far taught you one thing, it’s that you wouldn’t be where you are without their love and support.

6. Read a book. No, we’re not kidding, and we’re not referring to Himmelblau and Riggs’ Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical Engineering, either. Consider instead such thoughtful classics as The Cat in the Hat (it’s written by a doctor, after all!), The Wind in the Willows or any other book that you loved as a child. Reconnecting with the joy of reading will offset the kind of technical reading that so many of your courses demand. Don’t forget that books can be fun, too.

7. Plan a getaway. Toni Gorog took off a semester from her biology studies at UCLA to do fieldwork in Brazil. She credits that term as being the most meaningful event in her education. Giev Kashkooli was a bored pre-law student when he decided to take some time off to work for the United Farm Workers, a move that put him in touch with the political and economic inequities throughout the world and on the path to a career in social change. Carrie Lee Newman worked 17-hour days as a deckhand on an Alaska cruiser. Remember that
   academic life and lifetime experience are both key to your education.

8. Create something. Paint or draw. Write a song. Make a mobile. Create a computer program. If your studies have demanded mostly left-brain thinking, this might be a good time to balance your right-brain/left-brain strengths and weaknesses. Someone once asked Albert Einstein how he developed his complex scientific theories. He pointed to his head and replied that he had used a pencil and a piece of paper to develop his ideas. Logic and reasoning, together with imagination and creativity, will give you a balanced education.

9. Throw a pity party—sort of. If your friends are feeling the same need as you for a break in the routine and demands of college work, maybe talking about it together will lighten the load all around, and solutions are more than likely to emerge. Remember to rely on your support team when the going gets tough.

10. Apply for an entry-level position at a nearby Burger King. If that experience doesn’t put you in touch with your need for an education, perhaps cutting class isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Sandra Choron and her husband, Harry, are authors of College in a Can.