I'm Sick of Getting Excuses

Sneezing.

Coughing.

Aching.

Chills.

You've got a cold. And there's no cure for it. There's no reason to go to the doctor and no reason to talk to a pharmacist.

But even though you don't need to visit a doctor to figure out what's wrong or to treat your symptoms, you need to visit one in order to get a school excuse.

That's right. You have to pay money to be excused from class.

We pay the school for each class we take. So we have to pay to attend class, as well as pay to miss class?

This doesn't seem right to me. In fact, I'm infuriated by the thought of it.

A few days ago, I called the Auburn University Medical Clinic.

I told the receptionist that I was sick, but didn't need to see a doctor in order to know what was wrong with me.

I asked her if I could get an excuse if I went in and talked to someone about it.

She said no. I would have to pay for a visit to the doctor in order to be excused from class.

I find it interesting that the University sends e-mails to students asking them not to go to class if they are sick, but only provides us with two or three "unexcused" absences.

Calling these "unexcused" irks me.

So because we're not willing to pay money to have someone give us information we already know, suddenly being sick is inexcusable?

Not all illnesses need to be treated by a doctor. Sometimes you just wake up feeling miserable.

And with all the stress students deal with throughout the school year, I think it's perfectly plausible that they may not feel well enough to go to class more than a couple times a semester.

The university setting is extremely stressful by nature.

Students have to balance school, work and extracurricular activities, as well as make time for their family and friends.

When this balance is off, individuals become stressed. I can't speak for others, but when I get stressed my immune system decides to shut down.

I get sick, and it is common for me to run fevers of at least 103 degrees. (No, that is not an exaggeration.)

When this happens, there typically isn't anything a doctor can do for me. It's my body's common response to stress, and I know exactly how to treat it.

I'm not going to spend money for a doctor to tell me that I'm sick, and I'm certainly not about to drag myself out of bed and drive myself to the medical clinic.

In this economy, not all of us are blessed enough to have great insurance plans that cover a significant amount of medical costs.

We shouldn't have to spend our hard-earned money when it doesn't need to be spent.

I realize there are the slackers out there who would never attend class if it wasn't required.

So what?

Fail them if they can't complete assignments in a timely manner.

I don't understand why the honest students should be punished because of the laziness of others.

I believe that the University should reconsider its attendance policy.

While I understand that the intent is good, in practice it proves to be unreasonable and unrealistic.