I got a C- in Fitness Walking. Now, I did a lot of other things over Winter Break that are a bit too embarrassing to mention in a newspaper column - getting beaten up by that pack of elves for heckling the Mall Santa immediately comes to mind - but nothing was more embarrassing than discovering I had walked my way to a C- in the easiest class Ball State University offers.
When I first signed up for Fitness Walking, I was sure the brunt of my embarrassment would rest squarely on the mere act of telling other people I was taking a walking class. This is mainly because when you tell people you are enrolled in a walking class, first they look at you as though they are fighting the urge to run out and buy you a box of crayons and a helmet. Then they demand an explanation.
Well, although there are a number of important factors to consider when selecting a Physical Education Fitness and Wellness course to compliment your personal fitness goals, the only one I was remotely concerned with was my desire to not sweat. And since Ball State has yet to offer Fitness Eating, Breathing or Sleeping courses, I decided that walking would be the next best choice.
So where did the C- come from, you ask? Was I just hung over and staggering around? Did I lose both my legs in a shark attack halfway through the semester?
I actually finished the semester with an improved count for pushups and sit-ups, smaller body-fat measurements and a shorter time on the mile run since the beginning of the semester. Still stumped about the C-? I was too.
Then I remembered the attendance factor. We were allowed two absences, and I was absent four times - okay, maybe five. But the number of times I was absent only strengthens my point about Ball State's attendance policies - especially considering the overall improvements I made despite my absences.
Aside from the obvious case of exams, there should be no attendance requirements at Ball State. Not at the personal, departmental or even university levels.
The physical presence of my body in a classroom does not necessarily aid the educational process, anyway. For one reason or another, I've paid so little attention in at least half of the classes I've shown up to that I might as well not have shown up in the first place. But as students, we pay the university to deliver us an assemblage of knowledge that will provide a complete education according to our interests or field of study.
How we acquire that knowledge, however, should be up to us. If I go to a restaurant and order a cheeseburger, the restaurant's only job is to provide me a cheeseburger - not to tell me when and how to eat it. At no point during my meal does anyone tell me, "You have to eat one bite of that cheeseburger every minute, or else you won't receive full credit for finishing it."
If you don't go to class, and that affects your test scores, then it's your fault. You should have been there. But if you don't need to be present at each lecture to perform satisfactorily on tests, papers and homework, and you don't have the desire to receive the extra insights that attending lectures can provide, then why should anyone be allowed to make you?
I'm not trying to encourage anyone to not go to class, but I think we've all been in a situation where the only reason attendance was necessary was to fulfill the guidelines of an arbitrary policy.
Self-education is the hardest and most important way to learn, so why penalize those who choose to educate themselves independently? Just a little something to think about while you're walking to your next class.
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