Speaking Up by Ryan

This is really my first post since the beginning that hasn't been about sports. I actually hope to do a fair amount of these in the future. I love sports, but it is nice to take a short break (very short in my case) once in a while.

Yesterday the area, and much of the east coast, had an insane amount of snow and bad weather. Corning was hit hard, but the school remained open and classes were in full swing. Many students, however, were snowed in and unable to come to class. Out of my four classes yesterday, three had less than half of the students there. The classes themselves were fine, and most professors used the time to review past material with those who were present. I fear that most of the absent students assumed the professors knew they were staying home due to the weather. I know from past experience that this can lead to alot of confusion and possibly lowered grades.

When I was at a four year school last year, my dorm was the "jock dorm," and because of that it was located right next to the gym, at the very top of a large hill on campus. Only one road leads down from the hill, and we were hit with a large snowstorm one week that completely covered the road so bad that no cars or people could get through it from either direction. The rest of the school was more accesible, so classes continued, but many of my dorm's residents were snowed in from classes for a couple of days. Thinking that my professors would know I was among the snowed in people, I stayed in my room but didn't contact anyone. When I resumed classes two days later, I found one or two absences in every class because the professors were unaware of the dorm situation.

So my advice to those people who were snowed in (or sick) is this: don't assume anything. While professors know of weather conditions, there is no way they can be sure of the exact reason you're gone if you have to miss a class. If you talk to professors, most of them will be willing to work with you, and at the very least they will appreciate you taking the effort to send them an e-mail. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

-Ryan