With the amount of tuition we shell out each semester, our grades should reflect subject knowledge, not attendance records.

At 25-years-old, I should not have to beg my professors to give me points because I was too sick to come to class.

A single mother shouldn’t have to see her grade lowered because she has to stay home with her sick child. Especially when she knows the material and has good grades on her assignments.

Many Wichita State students are non-traditional, and we have more important things to juggle than classroom attendance. Our careers, families and other things take precedence over attending class every day.

Discussing absences with professors is about as annoying as raising your hand to go to the bathroom. It’s ridiculous. While their time is valuable, ours is too.

If WSU has plans to better accommodate non-traditional students, they need to do away with participation and attendance grades. We’re not in high school anymore.

If we miss class, it should be our responsibility to ask others about assignments or meet with the professor during office hours to discuss what we’ve missed.

Professors shouldn’t have to make exceptions for late assignments due to absences, but they should allow us to turn them in on time, if we are aware of the assignment, without deducting points for missing class.

It’s time to start treating college students more like adults and less like high school students. No more attendance and no more attendance grades.