Building a relationship with your professors has many benefits for your academic and career success. Connecting with your professors will allow you to have a strong academic connection for the future, you will be able to ask them for letters of recommendation, and you will be having a better workflow. Since they will be able to see the effort you are putting into the class as well as they can help you with future assignments.
Start by introducing yourself on the first day of the course. Introduce yourself, what you are majoring in, and the year you are being attentive at the college or university that you are in. Lastly, show how much you are appreciative of being in their course and that you would hope to learn more from it. Another option would be to send them an email introducing yourself such as your major and how that class is related to your major, why you are interested in that class, or anything you would like to bring up. It should not be a stressed component but rather have fun and play around with the email and how you would want to present yourself. It is really important to connect with your professors, especially if you may be virtually learning with them online. If you are an online learner, you would need to meet these same adjustments.
Weekly office hours
The place where you are able to strongly connect with your professor is through office hours. During the first-week professors will send out their syllabus where office hours will be located and at the time they are available as well as the time that the teacher assistants are available. It is suggested and highly encouraged to attend them because it allows you to ask questions in a small group and discuss class materials which can help with future class material. Professors will also take that into account since it is very common for students to not attend office hours. Although this is extra time and students can see it as wasteful and choose not to attend it has many positive benefits. Most students are afraid to attend office hours, only because they are mostly afraid to ask for help. Most students feel that they don’t need office hours so they encourage themselves not to go. Attending office hours regularly even if you do not need to attend them. Attending office hours can make you more efficient in your future assignments, and also can prepare you for your quizzes and exams.
There may be times when to meet with your professor during office hours on their syllabus. Email your professor on the days, and times when you can come into their office hours to check-in. Professors can tend to be busy, you can also email your course TA for further information on the times that you can meet with your TA or your professor. They are both there to help you academically for the course. Email the professors a couple of days earlier before the due date of the assignment.
Tips for Networking with your Professors
– Work with your schedule to set aside a time to meet with your professors. – Research more about your professor through the University Website so you get an idea of the professor’s specialized field.
– Remember that professors are there to work with you and help you.
– It’s always helpful to write down questions to ask your professors before attending office hours, so you can have more of a clarification of being in the course of what you are learning in that particular assignment.
– Professors are connected with the school and will send opportunities that they are open to sharing.
References:
: Www.bu.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2023, from
https://www.bu.edu/com/files/2021/11/WC_emails_to_profs_and_TAs.pdf
