Abigail Garber

It’s that time of the year again: spring sports. We are busting out the baseballs, softballs, water polo balls, soccer balls, tennis balls, volleyballs, lacrosse balls, hurdles, and frisbees. To most people, spring sports mean getting to go back outside and run around with their friends. As much as I love softball, to me, spring sports also mean that I have to miss class.

As soon as we get back from spring break, almost every person that participates in a spring sport will have an early dismissal at least once a week. Some people love getting to miss classes. However, I do not. One of the things that I remember from the first softball meeting I had as a freshman was the coach saying that we were, “Student athletes, students first athletes second.” If that is the case, then why are we missing classes? Wouldn’t that make us athlete students? Athletes first and students second?

At Latin, when a student misses a class, they often have to make up the work that they missed that period and even then they don’t get all of the information that they would have gotten if they were present in the class. You get behind on work and don’t get an opportunity to ask questions. If you do have questions, you have to find a time that works for both you and your teacher to meet and discuss the lesson for that day. Missing class is more work than going to class.

While trying to think of some solutions to this issue, I was able to find one possible option: recorded classes. If a teacher was to set up a camera and a microphone in the back of the classroom that was able to record the class, and then send the video to the students missing class, the students would be able to get as close to a full classroom experience as they can while not actually in the class.

Missing classes is the most annoying aspect of spring sports in my opinion. I mean, playing softball in the rain is pretty annoying, but I think this is even more so.