The Twilight Zone - Sitting on the Front Row

The front row is an enigma. On the one hand: it is revered, highly coveted and most precious. Yet on the other: it is feared, treated like a plague and avoided at all costs. How can it be so polarizing? Allow me to explain.

When it comes to concerts, professional sports or an airplane the front row is prime real estate. It is where everyone wants to be and with this knowledge promoters, venue owners and airlines alike charge a premium for those who insist on sitting there. In fact, on the secondary market for front row tickets, prices reach astronomical levels and depending on the event, people will pay whatever it costs just to be there.

However when it comes to school and lectures the front seat becomes a haunted ghost town. Also, depending on the size of the classroom or the lecture hall some seats remain unoccupied, even when there are late comers.

Why the stark difference when it comes to school? It comes down to perception. It is almost understood that if you dare sit in the front of the classroom, you are a target for the teacher. There is nowhere to hide when a question is asked or if you forgot to do your assignment. This implies that being prepared to answer questions, participate in discussions and having any assignments completed on time are prerequisites for sitting on the front row. Surely this pressure is too much for the average student, why would you want to do the assigned readings or even read ahead in anticipation of a class discussion and furthermore, what does that teacher know anyway?

Ok, back to reality! Sitting in the front of the classroom is a bold statement to both the teacher and your classmates. It tells them that you mean business and that they can expect your effort to be just as strong as the statement that you are making. There are direct benefits to sitting up front:

You follow the lesson better as there as there are fewer distractions.

If the lectures are delivered without a microphone and speaker system, then you will definitely hear clearly because you are closer to the speaker.

It is much easier to capture the teacher's attention.

These are just a few and in every specific setting there are more benefits that you can take advantage of.

As I close today I want to share with you this. I had a friend in university who decided that sitting up front of the classroom was not bold enough. After the first lecture of every new course, he introduced himself to the professor by saying, "Hi, I am John (not the real name) and I am going to get an A in your class.” What he was actually doing was announcing himself to the teacher and ensuring he did not get lost in the crowd of students. Subsequent to that introduction, he would maintain a constant rapport with the professor throughout the semester. It proved to be a very shrewd idea, because in some tough classes when he needed extra credit or extra time on an assignment, he was able to benefit from the fact that he had already established a relationship with the teacher. In contrast, some students who when faced with the possibility of failure tried to build relationships with the professor despite the fact that they: sat at the back of the class, routinely arrived late and were tardy with assignments, found that it was too late. Don’t let this be you!

We will delve more into this subject next time!

Until next time remember: As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.