I completely disagree with the statement in Friday’s Diamondback staff editorial, “As adults preparing to enter the real world, students should have more choice in regards to attendance of their classes at this university.” If students want our university to better reflect the real world, attendance should be mandatory. Contrary to popular belief, just because something is mandatory does not mean you lack choice. You have a choice between following the mandated rule and reaping benefits, and going against the mandated rule and suffering penalties.

If students want to be treated like adults in the real world, it only makes sense they should get penalized for skipping a class. In the real world, you send out job applications, interview at different companies and hopefully find a suitable place to work.

To accept a job, you often choose to sign a contract requiring you to show up and work however many hours per week. Once you have signed the contract, no one is holding your throat and forcing you to go to work. You have the choice to show up, get your work done, get paid and eventually get promoted, or you can decide to ditch work because perhaps tanning on McKeldin Mall or playing your Xbox is more appealing. But if you choose the latter, it’s unlikely you’ll get paid and likely you’ll face termination.

This is how the real world works, so if the university wants to cater to “adults preparing to enter the real world,” it should truly reflect what awaits us after graduation. You make the conscious choice to attend this university instead of DeVry University or some other mediocre online school where you can earn a degree from your couch in your pajamas. In college, you “get paid” through the participation or attendance points you receive for showing up to class. Now, as adults who crave choice and freedom like vampires in corny movies crave blood, each of us has a choice. Choosing to skip a class should severely affect your grade to the point where you could fail the course, regardless of how much work you may have put in on your own time.

If unexcused absences led to failure in a class — similar to how they would lead to losing your job — our university would better reflect reality outside of college and would undeniably cater to students with the undying need to be treated as “adults preparing to enter the real world.”

Achama Onuma is a senior accounting and information systems major. She can be reached at achama@terpmail.umd.edu.