Some instructors require extra outside work in addition to the mountains of coursework already listed in the syllabus. Trying to keep up with all of this and understand the material can be difficult so finding yourself in office hours in inevitable. While they can be daunting, they can act as the perfect opportunity for students to get all of the information they need and more.
We’ve all been subject to intimidating professors and troubling classes. When it comes to simply going in and asking for help, it’s not always as easy as it seems. Pre-nursing major Lexi Cezerckaviczius says that after her freshman year, she realized that office hours are a vital resource.
“Freshman year is definitely a learning experience and I only went to office hours for my English class to get critiques on my papers when I should have been going for my science classes like Chemistry,” Cezerckaviczius said. “But I definitely go more now than I did before because I wasn’t really aware of how much help you actually get when you go.”
Forming a sincere connection with your teachers doesn’t only lend a hand in picking up your grades, but can also help in forming connections. Journalism professor John Paul agrees with this idea.
“I think it’s important for students to get to know their instructors whether it’s through office hours or whatever. I think maybe that’s the advice shared with a lot of younger students,” said Paul. “Because in some case your instructors know about internships and jobs. And when that job opens up to me or whomever the instructor is, I’m gonna go, ‘you know who would be perfect for this?’ Because I’ve already met that student.”
Gaining recommendations doesn’t only go as far as internships and jobs, it can drive your entire career path sometimes. Sophomore Kendall Hutchinson says she switched from pre-med to i-Health because of a conversation her and her professor had during office hours.
“I was always really rigid about being a doctor,” Hutchinson said. “But then one of my intro professors told me about the i-Health major, and said it would probably be a better fit for me. Since then, I’ve liked the career path I’m on so much more.”
Although office hours can be intimidating at first, Cezerckaviczius says that once you start going to them regularly, you get much more comfortable.
“It might be intimidating at first especially if it’s a professor you look up to. You might feel a little nervous, but they’re honestly just there to help you,” Cezerckaviczius said. “I would say really just take the time to get to know your professors and TAs because it’ll only help, and it can help a lot when you’re looking for jobs and internships too.”
Paul says that his “open-door” policy typically leads to deeper conversations and better connections between faculty and students.
“I think [they] are really important because any instructor used to be available for not only homework, but for whatever you just want to talk about,” Paul says. “And frankly some of my most satisfactory discussions are with student about life and careers and, yes, assignments and how to make my story better or going over a story or watching something online you can learn (from).”