Where can a line of priority be drawn?

I always hear classmates talking about this, and pretty much want them to shut up for complaining so much. They talk about school as if they don't have a choice to go. They say, "Ugh. I have this shoot on Wednesday, and my professor won't let me get out of class to do it! Isn't that the point of going to film school!? To work on shoots!?"

Yes, it's true, one of the reasons for going to film school is to work on shoots. But there is another reason, and it's not just pertinent to film school. It has to do with going to school in general. You are meant to be taught responsibility. If you blow off prior engagements for new ones, then you are not dependable, and your word is worth nothing. Having class on a certain day is a prior engagement. Think of each class like a shoot. There is no rush, so you don't need to run out the door. Whatever shitty gig you were asked to PA on will come again.

Those are my thoughts when I hear people complaining about that.

What about homework though? I have no problem getting to class every week. I have no problem telling people that I can't work on their shoot if I have class. Hell, even paid gigs too. The thing is, I'm paying for classes. Why would I blow off something that I'm paying an arm and a leg for, only to be paid a small fraction of that tuition by whatever producer for some shoot? It makes no sense.

Again, back to the homework question. What about it? It's one thing to miss class, but I have a ton of homework. Here's an example. This weekend I have to write a paper for Visual Production Design discussing the production design of Chinatown. I have to read the entire book Thinking in Pictures, the Making of the Movie Matewan by John Sayles. I have to write a paper on that book. I have to create call sheets for one week of a feature shoot.

It's not so much that I can't do it, but it is enough to make me not want to do it. My time is spent instead editing this short that I DP'd over the summer, and going out to film various stuff with my roommate's new car mount. So is my time spent wasted? No. Are my priorities out of whack? Probably a little bit. But I'm not missing something I paid for. I'm missing something that is tacked on to that payment. But I need to do the homework, or I might as well not even go back to class. Hmmm. Never going back to class. Now that sounds good.