#8 am classes

Today, we are going to be talking about something that studyblr tends to tell you to avoid. That is ✨ 8 a.m. classes ✨

Yes, the dreaded and hellish 8 a.m. classes that everyone tells you to avoid because yes, they are hell, they are early, and frankly no one wants to do that. However, depending on your major, your college/university, the professors, and just how the college within the university has classes structured, plus what courses you need to take to graduate (whether major or general education classes), you may be stuck with 8 a.m. classes whether you like it or not. Take it from me, a music major who has to take two different theory classes back to back starting at 8 a.m every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and those classes do not end until 9:50 a.m. And are in the same class room so I don’t have to move for two hours. (I have another class in that same class room like 2 hours after..so I don’t move around a lot in the Creative Arts building unless it’s a Monday) 

Let’s get into this dreaded topic 

Why 8 a.m. classes?

There really isn’t an answer to this because it can vary among college/universities, the college within the university, the professors, the major, the course structure, and when classrooms are available to be used in buildings. Some professors may teach multiple classes (Creative Arts professors especially music can teach multiple classes and may only have a morning time period to teach), professors and students may be morning people, the course structure may be throughout by the university and college itself, and sometimes an 8 a.m. class is the only option of time available for it to occur. It really can be a mystery and it could be any of those. While I don’t work in administrations (obviously), I’m assuming it is because of those. It can be any of those or anything truly. It is how it is and we can’t change anything about it. 

Are 8 a.m. classes all that bad?

It depends. Sometimes you may be a morning person and want to start out your day with morning classes to get done before noon or a certain time. You need morning classes due to work. You may just be required to start your day at 8-8:30 because your major and required general education courses began at that time and you have gone with it. You may be used to starting your day that early from work or high school/pervious college/etc., and need to keep that routine. Or, on the other hand you may be the person who absolutely hates and despises morning classes because who the hell would want to wake up at the crack of dawn to get ready for classes. You may not be a morning person. You may have work in the morning so you can’t take them and rather have it that way. 

It really all depends on what you want to, what you need to course wise, and what you may be stuck with as a schedule. With quarantine and how everything has been the past few months due to classes being online and a good majority of us having to go back to being on campus, 8 a.m. courses may not be for you and you may have worked with your advisor to change all that..however..sometimes you may be stuck with them and it just depends how you feel with them. 

Personally for me, I did my work study job starting at 8 a.m. throughout my entire freshmen year both semesters and it actually helped me be awake and be productive even if I wanted to sleep in. It got me going and you may need that structure in your daily life and routine to wake up early and start your day off with classes or work. It’s really dependent on you as a person. 

How your major can make you take 8 a.m. classes 

Many of you may not like this..but as I stated your major can make you take 8 a.m. classes because of major requirement courses. That is literally how it can be majority of the time because your major requirement courses are the ones you need to take to help keep you on track to graduate. As a music major, I know my music theory classes start at 8 a.m. and go up until 9:50 a.m. back to back. I have to take 2 different theory classes and I have to take three of them the fall (taking the Written Theory 1 and Aural Theory 1 this semester, Written and Aural Theory 2 spring semester, then Written and Aural Theory 3 the following fall semester) and from what I have seen by going into universities degree’s work page..they are 8-8:50 a.m. to 9-9:50 a.m. classes. It is literally required by my major courses that are required for me to graduate to take morning classes. So, while I may grow to hate morning classes. I can not escape not taking them. It will happen. 

You may not be able to around escaping 8 a.m. classes no matter what because your major has required courses that are 8 a.m. and there is no other time at all. No other time. That can be for a one day two-three credit class, or like me a class that spans across three different days of the week and has a set time no matter what. It is part of my major required courses and it’s something I and others have to deal with. Literally that is how it is. 

How you can make taking 8 a.m. classes good, tolerable, and beneficial

Once again, this really depends on who you are as a person. It may be super, super difficult at first to get used to taking early morning classes. To having to get up earlier than you want too to get ready to get out your house/apartment/residence hall and trying to adjust your sleep schedule. Trust me, I know it is hard, yet there ways you can adjust, make the classes good, tolerable, and beneficial. Get to know people if you can, see if anyone in your residence hall or a classmate lives close to you and maybe walk/drive (although some may not want to share cars right now so that’s okay) together to class so it helps get you up. It can help make having the classes more good and tolerable for you and may be beneficial if you have to miss that class one morning for some reason and you need to know what happened. Plus, it can be beneficial because you can literally get the class out of the way. Morning classes can be really beneficial if you have a busy afternoon or night and need to go back home/residence hall to take a nap, relax, and get ready for the rest of your day. Of course, it all depends on you as a person, your schedule, and how you want go about your day in college/university. 

Pros and Cons of 8 a.m. classes

Pros: Can get classes out of the way, helps you get moving if you are a morning person, allows you to plan your day so you can be done by a certain time for whatever or for work/study/extra curricular activities that are later in the day, allows you to be able to get on campus and park if you need too early, allows you to be able to get morning major requirement or general education requirement classes out of the way for the rest of your day, and allows you to be able to work on homework for your in-person and online classes and other stuff. 

Cons: Very early, going to be unbearable throughout the first weeks of classes and maybe the entire semester, professors may be horrible, you may not be a person, class has the set time, may not be the best option but it is the only option you have, traffic to campus, classmates, building location on campus, back to back with another morning class that starts after. 

There can be way to these pros and cons. 

And that is all I have for now. I really, really wanted to get this out there because I usually see on here a lot telling college/university freshmen to just not take 8 a.m. classes when really as I have found out from my freshmen year and now this year being a sophomore is that you can not escape 8 a.m. classes. You can not escape them at all. It is impossible to get away from them because there is going to be times, maybe multiple times in semesters or in the same semester where you will take them. You will have morning classes no matter what. It is how it is and I feel like a lot of posts in this community telling people to not take them is not taking account for the fact people have too. Do we enjoy? No. Not one bit. Do we have to take them to graduate and continue on with our major? Yes. That is how it is. 

If you have any questions regrading early morning classes, feel free to ask me and make sure when you are scheduling for your courses, look at your college/universities schedule builder or degree works (or whatever system they use) to see times. Due to COVID we know this year a lot of college/universities have changed their classes, except some classes have not changed to online or hybrid classes. Five of mine that in-person music courses did not change, nor did the times. So check that for the spring semester on the system your universities used to give you classes you still need to take and how to see the times and check with your advisor too when scheduling for the spring semester comes about. 

8 am classes really are not my thing! Love the topic, hate the time. The only upside- on the first day of class, my professor brought us doughnuts.

* Dubious distinction watch: Marquette is once again one of FIRE’s top ten worst colleges for free speech. * The “bunnies” survey from Mount St. Mary’s is apparently up at Scribd. It’s truly incredible to me that university lawyers signed off on this scheme, on the level of either theory or implementation, if indeed they did. * What is a university, that faculty are not employees who can be fired…