This might be called the “first day” post. It might be called that because of how important the first day really is when you’re talking about class. You see, much like the syllabus, the first day is a day when the expectations are set out for the course by the professor. The first day is when the professor answers common questions and relates important information to the students. The first day is when the class becomes real because everyone is there at the same time and for the same reason. A group is formed. The first day is very important.
Sadly, many students miss the first day. Some legitimately can’t find it for some reason or another. Some are held up in the traffic of many new students clogging the normal pathways and confusing the normally expedient bus schedule. Some simply decide that nothing important happens on the first day anyway… so why go? Well, in addition to the reasons above (which are sufficient answer as far as I’m concerned) I’m going to give you more good reasons. “But isn’t it just on the syllabus anyway? Come on!” Prepare young class-missers.
The syllabus is, by its very nature, a soulless document. It is literally a lifeless piece of paper (or series of ones and zeroes) that sets out in the most boring and expedient fashion the bullet point necessities of a course. It is muddled with legal language at most universities that only serves to obscure the genuinely helpful content found in the syllabus at its core. What the syllabus is NOT is a replacement for the personality of the professor, the aura of the students as a group, or the subtle (or not so subtle) suggestions found in what happens on that first day that cues you in to how this specific group of people in this specific semester are going to learn something new together. If you ever went to the first day of class and knew (just knew) that a class wasn’t for you — then you know what I’m talking about. You also know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever shown up to day one and thought — “this is going to be awesome!” The difference isn’t the syllabus — it’s the people.