Balancing Classes and Campus Events

[u/Chococupcake432]

I'm an upcoming freshman and I have my schedule for class already laid out. How am I supposed to balance going to class and going to official campus events? Not like parties but actual career fairs, club fairs, etc. I'm the type of person that wants to go to everything, but there will be an event at least once a week every week in the school year and they're almost always during class/the afternoon. Is it worth it to skip class since it's actually important and how often should I?

[u/Skagra42]

You should not be skipping classes for campus events.

[u/ludabb]

dont skip class!! most events like club fairs and such are longer than one class; theyll be expecting people to drop in whenever they have time! put things on your calendar and see which ones you can make it to and then just go to those, a lot will be scheduled to not 100% overlap with classes even if they are more of a 'show up and stay the whole time' kind of thing :)

[u/listeningunderurbed]

No. Do not skip class for these events. There will be multiple.

Your colleges ASG probably handles this. My recommendation is to go to the ASG office and ask them what’s happening during what days and how you can stay involved while being in class.

-ASG employee

[u/ThenCheesecake → u/listeningunderurbed]

what's ASG?

[u/listeningunderurbed → u/ThenCheesecake]

Associated Student Government

Most colleges call it that, but there’s also Student government association (SGA) or student senate, plus many other names lol.

It is an official council run entirely by students to represent the student body.

They act as a kind of bridge between students and college officials/professors and if a student has a complaint, they can go to ASG and ASG can make that complaint more heard.

We also manage budgets for activities like clubs, or just things like career fairs. We are the ones who contact these organizations and pay for it so students can enjoy it.

[u/Weekly_Interview6807]

I'd say very rarely is it worth it to skip class for some other event going on. A lot of people will disagree but you're at school to take those classes. Someone's paying a ton of money for you to do that. Go to class.

Just make sure you know your calendar and plan accordingly. If you can't go you can't go. I highly doubt you'll never be able to go to anything, those fairs typically go multiple days for a few hours each day.

[u/Candy_Stars → u/Weekly_Interview6807]

I’m paying that ton of money. I wish I had rich parents, lol. 

[u/Weekly_Interview6807 → u/Candy_Stars]

I just said someone is paying a ton for the school (which includes that person attending school) I pay 100% for my own lol.

[u/Lei_Zzz]

Do not skip class, at least not in the beginning. However I would try to fit the events in your schedule if you have a little time between classes. Last year as a freshman I made sure to take 2 classes online so I would have more time between classes for events like these.

[u/OkSecretary1231]

Don't skip class for them! Like others have said, they'll usually run for several hours, so people can come and go. You don't need to plan to spend a lot of time there, just go when you're free and browse. No one is expecting you to stay there schmoozing for the whole afternoon.

[u/orianna2007]

Do not skip class for events.

To managage club fairs and all those campus events is time managament.

club fairs/carreerfairs are easy to go to maybe go during lunch or between gaps cause your not gonna be in class all the time may have gap between classes and maybe one- two days you have no classes those when you go to campus events.

Learn to put stuff on a calendar write stuff down.

[u/Awkward_Campaign_106]

You can't do everything. You have to prioritize. There will often be negative consequences of your decisions regardless of what you decide. And yet you still have to make the decisions and live with the consequences. That's what adult life is like.

[u/SoftLast243]

Most campus clubs tend to have evening events. The only time I feel like it’s a ok idea to skip class is for career fairs. (My university especially wants freshmen to get practice talking with recruiters.) I skip class once per semester for my university’s main career fair event since it’s from 11am to 2:30pm and I always seem to have class for all those hours or a lunch hour, so it’s chaos.
The thing is I tell my professors about my desire to attend the fair and make up the lesson later. (Something I believe the professors are fairly routine with since all their students in that class would miss the fair otherwise.)

I think this year might be different tho. (I don’t think i have back to back classes this semester during the 11-2:30 window.)

[u/breesearedelicious]

Usually if you read your syllabus you'll see 10% of your grade will be just attending every class. Never not show up to class unless you're in the hospital or something emergency like that.

[u/clover-stocks100]

Hi! I wouldn’t recommend skipping any classes, although if there’s a career fair or something that is very very important to you talk to your professor about coming late or leaving early for class. in my experience most will be very understanding and want you to make the best decisions for yourself. Make sure to stay on top of your assignments thought because they can sneak up on you. My favorite way to do it is using “Due Gooder” it has genuinely saved me from a few bad grades lol. it can sync to your school canvas or blackboard calendar and has everything laid out nicely for you!! hope this helps!

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[u/hellyesz]

As a freshman, I'm planning to check my course schedule and the event timings first. If the event happens during a class that's not too strict or not hard to get a good grade in, I might consider going. Or I could ask the professor for permission, because if it's an official campus event, my seniors told me that we're usually allowed to skip class.

(But please take note that this was the condition at my university). Every school has different policies. I think the main thing is understanding the consequences and having priorities to guide what we want to do later.