Five, four, three, two, and one. Class has started, and I’m not even to the building yet. Great, another tardy.
The party started fifteen minutes ago and I’m just now leaving. My friends are going to kill me! What can I use as an excuse?
Story of college life. Some are very punctual and others can’t seem to ever get anywhere on time. Constantly getting looks of annoyance from everyone in the class. First piece of advice, always have a good excuse prepared, be sure the excuse fits the situation or else you could be in even more hot water.
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When you’re late for class and the professor calls you out that’s never fun for anyone. Depending on your relationship with the professor you can respond in only two ways. Serious, or completely joking.
When being serious there’s also two sub-categories: lying, and honesty. If you were taking a nap or just had to finish that episode on Netflix, it may be better to go with the lie. When lying it is always best to use a lie with a grain of truth to help lower the chance of being a noticeable liar. If you were taking a nap maybe say how you lost track of time. Not a total lie, you can’t keep track of time when you’re sleeping right? If you were watching Netflix this can still apply because if you’re like me then Netflix has a way of distorting time.
When going the honest way, which is most recommended since I do not, nor will ever, condone lying, just simply say the reason. Professors respect honesty and owning up to the mistake you made. While it may not get you out of doing whatever homework or quiz was assigned you’ve earned some respect.
If you’re very close with your professor or have become known as the class clown, humor may be the best route. With humor, you can say just about anything. Even the truth can be humorous when said in a joking tone. I was battling a dragon, or I was having lunch with a squirrel can get you at least a couple laughs from the class or the the professor. If you’re lucky it’ll get a laugh from both parties.
Most importantly I want to emphasize that being late for class is never cool. While it does happen to the best of us, it’s still easily avoidable. Even for Freshman, which is another good excuse to be late if you are a Freshman, it’s still easier to not be late. Even if you need to be on campus an hour before class starts to avoid being late, do it! It’ll save you a lot of heartache, and possible humiliation, if you do.
* The picture of Disney’s white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland’s was provided by atheerr.blogspot.com.
