Beaver Nation Migration

Hello New Beavers! Welcome to the first week of classes. During your first year it is unavoidable to have a couple large lectures with 300+ students. You may have been close with your teachers in high school and it is possible to have the same kinds of relationships with your new professors in college. The best way to do this is by putting in the effort to meet with them one-on-one. Here are some tips as to what to do when meeting with professors:

• Check your syllabus to see where and when their office hours are
• Email them ahead of time to give them a heads up as to when you are coming
  • This will make you hold yourself accountable to actually go as well
• Go to their office on the day and time you said you would be there
• Let them know your name, which of their classes you are in, and why you are taking this class
  • Bonus points if you don’t say, “I don’t know, my advisor made me”
• Ask them what they like to do outside of teaching
  • I promise they have lives outside of a classroom

Some benefits of being on a first name basis with a professor in a large lecture hall are:

• They have a face to your name, so if you are  .50% away from a better grade they will remember that you put in an effort to meet them and you will be more likely to get bumped up
• If you use a clicker and it isn’t working one day, you can go up to them after class and let them know you were there. If they saw you in class then you are more likely to get those points
• Professors in general are very interesting. They all come from very different backgrounds and you never know, you could have a lot in common with them, and it never hurts to have a faculty member by your side

Best of luck on your first week and say hi to your professors from me!