Let the exodus begin...

The Visitors are back.

Or should I say, the Visitors are gone.

It's well into the fourth week of the semester, and the exodus has begun. It happens every term. One by one, two by two, students stop coming to class.

I know, I know. Shocking. College freshmen, not going to class at 11:00 in the morning. Call the papers.

People who knew me in college (especially those reading this) are probably thinking "are you kidding?" I'll admit, I didn't always have a perfect attendance record. I'm thinking specifically of the Southeast Asian Studies class--an add/drop special that I picked up at the last minute that happened to be scheduled at the same time as my favorite television show. But I look at my own foibles as a learning experience. I did fail that class. I know the dangers of not going to class, even though I learned them the hard way.

This is exactly the point that I try to convey to my classes each semester. At the start of each term, I tell my students that attendance is mandatory, but that I won't be taking attendance. No rosters or rolls, no ten minutes spent on calling out names at the beginning of class. This always causes some confusion...a confusion that is often compounded when I tell them to look around the room. You won't see some of these faces again until the midterm, I say. Then I tell them that if they expect they'll be one of the missing, I remind them they still have a week to drop the class.

So why do I tell them these things? Call it a warning. Call it a public service. I really do want people to succeed in my class. And the best way to do that is to...wait for it...come to class!

I know my approach may sound a bit unorthodox. But as I've mentioned, it doesn't take much to pass my class. Half the battle is showing up, and that's something that I can encourage, at the very least. But despite my warnings, there are those who choose to entertain themselves in other ways during the time they should be in class.

These people. The empty desks. The MIA. These are the Visitors.

To a certain extent, I can't say that I blame them for not coming to class. After all, I understand. I was there. And honestly, I don't really miss them, either. I have no tolerance for those that come to my class and do homework for other classes, or who read the paper. And those who try to make a booty call on the cutie to their left? I feel no guilt about kicking these should-be-Visitors out of my class.

So here at end of the fourth week, the Visitors are gone...for now. Come midterm time, they'll be back. And they'll be sorry. Not for what I am going to do to them, but for what they're doing to themselves...