One of the more stressful aspects of the classroom can be interacting with your professors because, in the world of college, professors are incredibly important. While getting along with every professor you have isn’t a necessity, it’s a good idea to build good relationships with them for several reasons. First of all, interacting with professors is good practice for being professional in the future with employers and other people you’ll need to impress one day. Secondly, professors are full of valuable information, including career advice and help with their classes. Finally, professors can write important recommendations that can help you get into grad school or get a job once you graduate. While talking to professors can seem overwhelming, generally, when conversations with them go wrong, it’s either because you’re taking things too lightly, or are too nervous. It’s important to relax and remember that your professors are just people, but by remembering the rest of these tips, you can avoid most major conversational mishaps and create good professional relationships.
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Don’t give too much personal information, unless you’re sure it’s appropriate. Professors can be great mentors for personal advice as well, but if you’re just trying to explain why you were late for class, telling them all about the nasty break-up you’re going through is oversharing. If they make it clear they’re available for you to air your issues out, that’s one thing, but unless you’re sure, avoid creeping them out and being inappropriate.
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Don’t whine, especially if it’s about the difficulty of the class. Explaining the problems you’re having and asking for advice or help is fine, but complaining about the class is essentially criticizing the professor. Be respectful and remember that classes aren’t supposed to be easy.
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Be respectful. This cannot be stressed enough. It was said at the end of the last tip and it needs to be said again. Professors have worked very hard to get where they are, their positions deserve respect, but more practically, they have a lot of power. Professors can write recommendations that you may need after graduation, and they control your grade in their class. If you run into problems during the semester, having your professor on your side can make life a lot easier. Being respectful means not being too familiar with your professors, and employing the rest of your good manners.
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Be honest. While that should go hand in hand with being respectful and using good manners, it needs to be stated explicitly. Regardless of what you’re discussing or what you’re trying to explain or make excuses for, your professors deserve your honesty. Additionally, things can go horribly wrong if they find out you lied to them. It destroys trust and shows that you haven’t respected them enough to be honest.
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Don’t be a robot. While it’s important to be respectful, it’s easy to do that while being yourself. Engage with your professors and let your personality come through. Again, professors can give important recommendations, and it’s easier for them to do that if they have a good sense of you as a student. Be professional and try to make a good impression while remaining authentic. (This gets easier with practice.)
As a final piece of advice, if things go wrong and you do feel you’ve misspoken or been rude or otherwise made a mess of your interactions with a professor, apologize. It can only make things better. But, as long as you’re conscientious and use common sense, talking to professors shouldn’t be a problem.