It’s the last ten minutes of sixth period, struggling to learn the U.S. History vocabulary terms for the summative next period while running on just a few hours of sleep after a long track meet. The easy way out would just be to go home early to take a nap, but is that really the smart thing to do? We’ve all been there, no matter what the case is, there have been days where you simply just don’t want to go to class.  

With the first bell ringing at 7:23a.m., most students are barely awake by first period. Especially for students who ride the bus, the bus comes before the sun has even risen which can make it difficult for students to be up and out the door on time. The lack of sleep may lead to students being distracted in class, so for sophomore Hailey Conrad, sometimes it’s better just to sleep in for a more productive day in her other classes.  

“I skip my first period sometimes because after being up late the previous night doing work, all you want is an extra hour of sleep,” Conrad said. “I’m okay with working on something on my own time, I just don’t like showing up to class and dealing with the work or the students especially after a long night.” 

Wasted time in class is just another reason why students skip class. On days where there might be a substitute with no provided assignment, everyone just sits on their phones for the entire period. When students hear about a substitute in a class the first thing that comes to mind is, “Are we actually going to have an assignment?”

“I skip class once in a while when I feel like it’s not necessary to go,” junior Edgardo Garcia said. “Sometimes I just know there’s nothing going on and I don’t feel like being bored, so I just don’t go.” 

For some, missing just one day of class can put an even bigger setback on lessons and missing assignments than they might have been prior to skipping. However, some students feel that it’s possible to still skip class and maintain a satisfactory grade in the class. It is up to the student and how they choose to manage their time after that.

“I think [skipping can be an issue] depending on the student and their initiative to go into office hours and get the work they missed,” senior Marissa Adame said.

There are always those few students who get caught skipping class in the bathroom by administrators, but students who wander to their other teachers classrooms are often the ones who don’t get caught. Despite the fact that this issue was addressed earlier in the year, students getting past teachers and administration isn’t a difficult task to complete.

“Teachers and admin aren’t hard to fool and if I’m being honest if you’re nice and have a good excuse there’s no questions asked,” Bowers said.

Overall, even though skipping class may be a problem in school, it may have been one of those days where you need to relax and recharge for a more efficient day tomorrow.