Why you should resolve to get more involved
Some university classes base a portion of your grade on how well you participate in class, but being forced to participate shouldn’t be the only reason you do it. Although participating in class can seem like a daunting task at first, it has its benefits, like higher grades and the development of successful work strategies.
The next time you find yourself daydreaming in class or wishing you were somewhere else, try getting involved. It will quickly bring you back to reality, and force you to actually focus on what the professor is saying – helping you retain information and stay on top of course content.
Participating in class is also great because it gets your name out there. You may not instantly become best friends with the people around you, but the people around you will surely become aware that you exist when you start answering questions, and what’s better than other people knowing you exist?
If you’re not completely sure about a topic or something that the professor is saying, asking the professor to explain it will help you get your head wrapped around lecture material much faster than waiting to look it up at home later. You’ve probably heard it a thousand times before, but if you’re unsure about something, there’s a high chance that there are other people around you that don’t get it either.
Sometimes there are things that can get in the way of participating in class. These include apathy and anxiety. Apathy is not such a good thing when it comes to topics and material that you’ll be tested on in a few short months. If you find yourself not caring about what the professor is saying, speaking up may be the right thing to do, because it can guide the discussion to more interesting ground and maybe even get other people participating.
If anxiety grips you every time you attempt to answer a question, making you stutter and grope for words to say what just made so much sense in your head, there is hope for you. That first time you decide to put your hand up in class, you probably feel the eyes of everybody in the class searing into the back of your head. You may feel like they’re judging you and saying things behind your back. In reality, everyone in the room will be at least slightly envious of you, since you’ve got the guts to speak up in class.
If you’re ever participating in class and give a wrong answer, don’t fret too much about it – there is no way everybody in the class had the right answer in their head, so your classmates are sure to cut you some slack. Instead of seeing this scenario as the end of the world, use it as a learning experience. If you stay up-to-date on the material, and make sure you know your stuff before each class, you’re more likely to have the right answers in class. Think of how stoked you’ll be when you provide an insightful answer, and everyone in your class wishes they’d been the one to put their hand up!
Participating in class is a sure-fire way of keeping your head in the game and staying up-to-date on class material. From the first time you answer a question in class, you will have more of a vested interest in doing well in that class, and more motivation to do well. On top of that, having your professors actually know your name is cooler than you’d think (there’s nothing like getting shout-outs during class), and this can make your professor even more approachable in case you’re struggling with the material.
As long as you don’t let it get to your head and start monopolizing class discussions, the benefits of participating in class greatly outweigh the costs. When there is so much to gain, and all there is to lose is your inhibitions and obscurity, getting involved and participating in class is something that everyone should do.