An open letter to every teacher I’ve had since freshman year:

If you’ve ever been my teacher, odds are pretty good that I have slept quite soundly in your class. I’m writing this letter to let you know that I truly do care about learning and higher education but some days, my willpower just isn’t strong enough to push through the drowsiness.

Let me give you a little background of why perhaps I might not be awake today.

It’s 7:35 a.m. and my alarm has been blaring for over half an hour. I drift in and out of sleep as my mind tries to shake off the tiredness but the 5 hours of sleep speaks louder than the iPhone’s annoying wakeup call.

Approximately 18 minutes later, I find myself on the second row of my communication law class, coffee-less yet still determined to take good notes and stay awake the whole class. But something about a legal textbook just gets me going and the next thing I know, my friends are snapchatting pictures of me snoozing while libel and privacy torts are being discussed.

And much to my chagrin, this is a fairly regular occurrence. It doesn’t matter the size of the class or the time of day or the level of brightness in the room or even if the class is held in a Quaker church in England.

I hate to make excuses for this dozing off, like putting off the 100 pages of reading assigned until 11 p.m. or blatantly deciding to go to Whataburger at midnight because the reading is overwhelming.

I could play the family card and say my problem is a hereditary one. I come from a long line of class sleepers, so I’d like to say I can’t help it, but I wouldn’t dare cast blame for my snoozing on those that have come before me.

I’m sure you, professor, are wondering why I keep choosing to sit on the front row if it is almost guaranteed that about halfway through the period I won’t be awake. Well, I’m here to tell you that I have no idea why I keep subjecting myself to such opportunity for being called out or woken up. If I really were competing for the title of best in-class sleeper, you’d think I’d know by now that the back row is where all good and attentive students go to rest their eyes.

And if you’re worried about my grades, please don’t be. I was up until 3 a.m. working on homework because I talked to my friends for 4 hours in the library instead of studying.

Feel free to call on me or photograph me. I’m fairly certain by the time I graduate, a small exhibit of photographs of me sleeping in the various classrooms of ACU may open at a gallery in town.

You are all invited.

Thank you and goodnight.