Why Most People Avoid Sitting Upfront?

Photo by JJ Jordan on Unsplash

Why most people avoid sitting upfront? I understand that it is not enough to simply argue about the pluses. I also need to address some of the reasons why students avoid front the row. There are probably a million different reasons that we could come up with to why we avoid sitting in the front row. Some of the most common reasons

1. The feeling of being observed can causes anxiety.
2. The fear of being asked a question by the teacher/professor.
3. The fear of being labelled a “teacher’s pet”, or the fear as a result of imposter syndrome because they believe that the front row is reserved for the intelligent ones. I felt the latter once when I attended an economic conference everyone in the room had a PhD except me and one other guy.
4. Sitting up front makes it more difficult for you to communicate with your friends.
5. Doesn’t allow you to do other things, like look at social media on your phone.
6. Makes it more difficult for you to cheat.

I’ll see your reasons and raise my retort:

1. This point we’ve hinted at already. If you feel anxious by simply sitting in the front row, then how will you learn to handle significantly more anxiety-inducing situations in your life, like having to give a speech/presentation or having to ask your boss for a raise?
2. As you get used to sitting the front row you will start to relish the opportunity to answer your professors’ questions and to have a say in class. It will do wonders to your confidence in your ability. However, at the beginning just remember that you’re not obliged to answer any of your professors’ questions. If they ask a question and point you out, you can always say “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure”. This is a perfectly normal response.
3. Why should you care what others think? This may sound glib, but honestly, why should you care? Your main objective in the classroom/lecture hall should be to learn not to maintain whatever kind of social image you are trying to maintain. For the latter, I just recommend taking the “Fake it ‘till you make it” approach. Adopt the identity of what you think an “intelligent” student is until you actually build up the confidence and realise that you are one.
4. The argument is similar to the previous point. Your main objective is knowledge absorption. There are plenty of other hours in the day to socialise with friends but there are limited and specific times for when lectures and classes happen.
5. This is clearly a bad reason. However, I think there are exceptions when this reason is permissible, like if you need to finish a PowerPoint presentation before the next class (been there, done that).
6. Morally bad reason. This prof. said it best.

At this point, I hope you are thoroughly convinced to sit in the front row. In the next part, we explore strategies for developing this habit.

In the last part, we discuss How to build the habit of sitting upfront?