Way back during orientation, every other presenter told us to go to office hours in the beginning of the semester to meet our professors. Assuming everyone else was doing the same, I took their advice. I chatted about songwriting with my ES professor and asked another instructor about her other classes. I went to office hours when I had questions about the material, but I also went just to say hi.
It’s the start of the semester once again, and I’m making my rounds. So far I’ve met with my Portuguese and anthropology professors. I’ll make it to the other two sometime this week.
Some students say they feel weird going to office hours when they don’t have any academic concerns, but that’s the best time to go. Later in the semester, when papers are due and tests are approaching, there’ll be a line down the hallway and the professors won’t have much time for each student. But now, when notebooks are still fresh and to-do lists relatively short, there’s time to learn about who your professors are when they’re not professor-ing. They’re really cool! They’re real people with real lives!
You’re not wasting their time. They actually want to get to know you. If you get to know them and things do get rough later in the course, they’ll be better prepared to help and you’ll be better prepared to ask.
Besides, the more adults you have rooting for you, the better. (I took a walk around the lake with the rabbi on Friday! Because she offered! And it was lovely!)
In other news, this was a good first week back. I’m not overwhelmed with work (yet), and I’ve recognized friendly faces in class. The best thing about my music theory course, which I wouldn’t be taking if it weren’t a co-requisite for my guitar lessons, is that I leave class every day knowing I learned something. In other courses, I walk out reflecting on a great discussion or understanding a new concept, but with music, it’s concrete: I can now read bass clef, for example.
My RA threw a little welcome back party on Friday afternoon, complete with fresh berries and doodling. I adore the community in my dorm. I limit how much time I spend studying in the living room because I never get anything done, but it’s so much fun to hang out with everyone. And this weekend was a great mix of productivity and fun (including watching the finale of The Good Place and working on a jigsaw puzzle with friends). I’m looking forward to another semester full of good classes, good friends, and good weekends.
The squirrels were out and about this morning.