How to Be A Student

Welcome back to school! The juniors and seniors will be reading an article this week that talks about how to be a student. Or, more specifically, how to be a great, successful student. The truth is, it all starts with YOU.


YOU are the one who has to make a decision to learn.
YOU are the one who decides how to prioritize your time.
YOU are the one who will benefit from your school experience.
YOU are responsible for your actions.

We live in a culture that has become very litigious and unaccountable. One of our goals here at HVA is to train our students to learn accountability; to take ownership of their actions. Your teachers, your parents, and even your friends can help you navigate the road to success, but you are the one who must decide that it is important, and then you are the one who must travel it.

This poem by Tom Wayman highlights the moment when a student has missed class and asks, rather passively, "Did I Miss Anything?" The answer is always: YES!! You missed important learning moments. You missed the group discussion. You missed valuable assignments. Wayman chooses to answer sarcastically, making his point more memorable.

So, HVA students, a more responsible question when returning from an absence would be: "What did I miss, and what can I do to make it up?"

For extra credit in English class, write out this poem in GREEN INK and turn it in to Mrs. Payne by 7:50 am, Monday, August 23, 2010.

Did I Miss Anything?
Tom Wayman

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent

Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like:
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose

Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
a shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel
or other heavenly being appeared
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
to attain divine wisdom in this life and
the hereafter
This is the last time the class will meet
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people
on earth.

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been
gathered

but it was one place

And you weren’t here

From Did I Miss Anything? Selected Poems 1973-1993, 1993
Harbour Publishing

Copyright 1993 Tom Wayman.