Life happens while students are pursuing their educational goals, and sometimes life hands us circumstances which hold us back from doing our best at our studies. If you should encounter unforeseen emergency circumstances which will take you out of the classroom for a while, here are some strategies for dealing with the situation constructively.
• Contact your instructors immediately and be honest about your emergency situation. You do not need to tell your instructor any overly personal details, but do explain the scope and seriousness of what is going on, and provide an estimate of how long you expect to be out of class. Do not be offended if your instructor asks you to provide some sort of documentation; this is standard procedure at nearly every college and university.
• Notify your academic advisor so that he or she can direct you to further assistance from other college personnel or student services. We are here to help you in any way we can.
• Be willing to accept recommendations to drop classes or take incompletes if your absence from classes is going to be extensive.
• Be realistic about your abilities to bounce back from your absence within the time left in the semester. Some emergency circumstances (medical situations in particular) may take a lot longer for you to return to the classroom than anticipated.
• While you are out of the classroom dealing with the emergency situation, stay in touch with your academic advisor and instructors to update them on how things are going and when you plan to return.
