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Building Lasting Relationships with Your Professors

Building Lasting Relationships with Your Professors
8/24/2011
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Jacquelene Bennett

Lifelong friendships and connections are made in college but some of the most important relationships you will make while attending school are not just with your peers but with your professors, too. Aside from teaching you what you need to know, professors are excellent sources for advice, future job and internship recommendations, and insider information about the bureaucracy of the school; moreover, a professor can be a knowledgeable, sympathetic ear that can help guide you through your college years so forming a beyond-the-classroom relationship and repertoire with some of your professors is crucial. Here are some tips to help you form that bond with your professors.

Speak up in class. One of the quickest ways to grab a professor’s attention and have him or her learn your name is to raise your hand and ask a question. While other students may be going out of their way not to be noticed, your professor will appreciate your input.

Go to office hours. Professors have office hours for a reason but they are not just for answering questions about homework, tests or lectures. Office hours are designed to allow students and professors to interact beyond classroom walls; stop in to discuss an interesting article you read outside of class and go from there.

Say hi! For some reason, we students think professors are confined to their offices so it can be awkward when we see them walking around campus or eating in the dining hall...but it doesn’t have to be! When you see your prof, say hi and strike up a conversation. They’re people, too!

Doing these simple things everyday will create lasting personal relationships with your professors. Start making those connections as early as you can – that intro professor you reach out to freshman year could help you get a teaching assistant position with a notoriously difficult colleague when you’re a senior!

Jacquelene Bennett is a rising senior at the University of Redlands where her areas of study are creative writing, government and religious studies. When she is not studying or working, you can usually find her eating frozen yogurt or blogging about her day. She has a cactus named Kat and believes that Stephen Colbert is a genius. Jacquelene works hard, laughs hard and knows that one day you’ll see her name in lights.

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