For a moment, put yourself in your professor’s shoes. You were up until 1 a.m. the night before grading tests to return to your students. There is still a pile of homework that you haven’t even looked at yet. You wake up at 5:30 a.m. so you can get ready to go to work early so you can prepare your lesson for the day. By now your stomach is growling because you haven’t eaten breakfast, no time though, you need to organize your notes. When you walk into the classroom nobody is there. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be?

As the son of a teacher, I grew up with a “behind the scenes” look at the life of an educator, and believe me, professors have a life outside of the classroom and would much rather be doing other things than grading papers and lecturing to a bunch of know it alls who don’t have the slightest interest in coming to class or listening to what they have to say, but that's their job. They come to work every day ready to teach and as a student, your job is to come to class every day ready to learn.

I am here to defend the attendance policies that Mr. Mitchell believes should be dropped just because a professor might not be the best lecturer or the class is boring.

Class attendance is a priority that all students should be serious about.

Attendance polices are more or less an agreement between you, the student, and the professor. If the professor is going to take the time to prepare a lesson and be there to give it, then you should have the respect to attend. Besides, you paid for it, so get your money’s worth.

Every professor I have had allows a few unexcused absences and that should be more than enough. The average college student only spends two to five hours a day in class. That leaves plenty of time for socializing, studying, sleeping or what it is you choose to do in your spare time. If your life is so hectic that you can't make it to class, then you should try taking fewer hours per semester.

Our professors are here to teach, not entertain. I agree with Mr. Mitchell that some professors are boring, but more than one person teaches most courses so you have a choice as to who you take. If you have tried taking a livelier professor and you still can’t pay attention in class, maybe you have an attention span problem and need to get help.

Attendance policies are not a bad thing. Many professors reward students who have perfect attendance with extra points, and that can mean the difference between a passing or failing grade.

I sat down with one of my former professors once and our conversation turned to a discussion on this very topic. He told me that it is really hard to fail a student who is at class every day and tries the best they can. I took those words to heart and try to attend every class whether I’m passing or failing because you would be surprised to know that a lot of professors take this into consideration when determining grades.

Attendance policies are also a way of preparing you for life after college. It is a way of teaching responsibility and self-discipline. Your future employer will not look kindly upon you if you miss work just because you didn’t feel like coming in, and if you keep it up, you'll find yourself out of a job.

There are some students that are smart enough and have the self-discipline to learn on their own and don’t need to go to class to learn the material taught by our professors, but for the rest of us, probably the only time we’ll even look at this material is during class or when studying at the last minute for a test. This makes class attendance mandatory on our behalf.

If you still feel that class attendance isn't important and you feel threatened by attendance policies, maybe college isn’t the place for you. Stop blaming your professors for your lack of interest and enthusiasm and take a long look at yourself.

I'll see you all in class.

Sam Carter is a senior Agriculture Science major from Saltillo.