Contrary to what some believe. Attendance to class is a necessity to mastering a subject. We can’t be passive with our college career.

Choosing other ventures over a class is counterintuitive to being in college. We pay money to go to college. Why not attend classes then?

It isn’t a secret. Sometimes a day off is needed. It isn’t the end of the world to miss a class once or twice. It will also not affect your attendance grade too much either.

However, classes that choose to offer attendance points are the classes where professors are trying to engage their students.

There is no reason to miss a professor trying to engage you consistently.

Where will we be in our professional field? Will we forgo listening to our boss, because we choose to work out of the manual instead? Will we ignore working in a team? College is where we go to become a professional, and choosing to forgo learning opportunities consistently is nonsensical.

Can a textbook answer a complex question as well as our professor?

There are professors who choose to add only exams and finals. Some professors ignore the teaching aspect altogether and just throw the textbook expecting us to learn on our own.

There is simply no passion in teaching for these professors.

I want a professor who offers in-class examples of theory. I want a professor who brings cool science stuff to class. A professor who offers extra graded homework and exam feedback. A professor who encourages you to go to their class they work hard on with valuable points.

Why would we choose to throw away points? Is there anything more important than our coursework now?

Required attendance shouldn’t bother any good student. An invested student is going to be there anyways. There is an understanding that “I don’t have all the answers.”

There are classes that are hard. Classes an exam averaging a 50 percent is normal. The professor has been doing this for a while. Perhaps they know to master this subject you need to be engaged.

A professor once told me, the student who bugs them the most usually gets the better grade. Bugging a professor requires you going to lecture, asking questions on theory and engaging in a class example.

Going to class is our job at this point. Getting an extra incentive, getting a couple points back is not childish. It isn’t asking for something unreasonable. It is a professor’s understanding of class engagement.

Rather, it is caring about our major and our coursework. For complex classes, attendance points make our final grades reflect our commitment to that class more accurately.