When a student does not want to sit through a 50-minute lecture, the creativity usually kicks in, and the excuses follow. People get sick from time to time, and when they do they should stay home and keep their germs to themselves instead of spreading their illness to the entire class. However, the following reasons to miss class would probably not go over so well with any professor: having too much to drink the night before, not showing up for a test in the hope that a makeup might be easier, cutting to hang out in the Student Union, rushing to finish an assignment for another class or just trying to catch up on some sleep.

When these scenarios prove to be true, the last thing a student wants to do is admit it to his professor. This is when the long list of excuses students have used over the years comes in. While any of these tales could possibly be true, some are more believable than others.

There are the classics: “My dog ate my homework,” “I’m going on a family vacation” and “I got a flat tire on the way to class.”

“Car trouble is definitely the best excuse for missing class because there’s no excuse needed, and most teachers don’t know much about vehicles,” Taylor Daigle, business administration freshman from Thibodaux, said. “Just throw in a little truck jargon, and you’re all set.”

Then there are some more elaborate excuses. They float around in that “either this is made up, or really true because it’s just too strange to make up” area.

Joseph Thysell, professor of history and social sciences, said one such excuse he was given dealt with a Mardi Gras crew.

“I had one student tell me that they couldn’t take an exam because he had a crew breakfast to attend,” Thysell said. “He told me if he didn’t attend that he would be thrown off the crew.”

Felicia Harry, mass communication instructor, said she has heard a number of strange excuses in the course of her career.

“I’ve had a student tell me her friend is having a baby and she needed to be there,” Harry said.

There was also a student who got married in the middle of the semester, went on a honeymoon to Mexico and claimed she got sick, Harry said.

While these might borderline on unusual, there are still others that may seem even more bizarre.

“There was another girl that told me she was dressed and ready to come to class when her boyfriend picked her up and put her in the tub, which was full of water,” Harry said.

And the excuses just keep getting weirder.

According to the article “Top 10 student excuses for missing class” on siobhancurious.com, the following excuses were the top 10 actually given, as unbelievable as they may sound.

10. My mother made me give my dog away, and I haven’t stopped crying for three days.

9. While driving to school, I fell asleep at the wheel. I pulled over and napped instead of coming to class.

8. My boyfriend was stabbed at a club on Saturday. He’s okay, but I’m finding it hard to concentrate on school right now.

7. A drug lord burned down our house.

6. I had to go visit my brother in jail.

5. My little sister locked me in my closet.

4. My bank card was cloned by the corner store up the street. They wiped out my bank account, and I didn’t even have money for subway fare.

3. My Ritalin stopped working. You really wouldn’t have wanted me to come to class.

2. I’m having a nervous breakdown.

1. I pulled my back reaching into the fridge for margarine.

While they may or may not be true, one thing is for sure: as long as there are students missing class, there will be a myriad of creative excuses.