Ramble On

Another reader contribution:

Dear Professor [my name],

I am so sorry I missed class today. I was not feeling well this morning and missed another one of my classes this afternoon as well, but fortunately my professor had another section of the class later today that he allowed me to attend in place of my class.

I know I missed an exam today. I was up really late last night doing homework, reviewing my notes for the exam, and trying to study the tutorials for tests I need to take to apply to the [program name] program. I hadn't realized how complex it is to apply, and was really stressing out. I understand it is my fault that I was unable to make it this morning and you don't have to let me make it up. I know I need to take control over all the things I need to do and that I need to be more responsible.

I really don't want to do poorly in your class. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help my grade, like attend the other section of your class on Friday afternoons ( I would go on Mondays and Wednesdays too, but I have another class). If there's any extra assignments or anything I can do to improve my grade I'd really appreciate it.

I know besides my missing this morning's exam I didn't help my already not so great grade in the class. I was only required to take [another math class] because I'm a [major name] major, but I heard [another class] consists of just coloring and busy work with no actual learning of [subject], [note from pedagoog: hey, I teach that class! watch it!] so I chose to take [this class]. I wanted to actually learn things, but I didn't take into account that the class might be too difficult for me.

I'm sorry that I missed class and the exam today, and I'm sorry I'm not doing so well in your class. I know it's my own fault and am trying to get a handle of all the things I need to get done. I've always had a problem with time management and had a 504 in high school. I didn't want to apply for anything like that here because I wanted to try to make myself able to work like everyone else. I am trying to balance my time to fit in more studying for math and more frequently. I really do want to learn and do well. I'm not an [some kind of] major who's taking [this class] because it's required. I'm taking [this class] because I want to learn, and I'm really sorry my progress in class doesn't reflect that so far.

Also, I'm sorry this email is so long.

Sincerely,
[student name]

I think this student really just wanted to retake the missed exam, but couldn't bring herself to ask for it. Maybe they should get 10 points for that. The professor was kind:

[student name]:

I'm not quite sure what you are asking. Would you like to take the test on Friday?

Prof. [my name]