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Excerpts
Chapter II
Professors
17. Professors are people too!
It is unquestionably in a student's best interest to
earn the respect of his/her professors, and, even better, be liked
by their professors.
Professors are gods in their classrooms with the
power of life or death over grades, but professors are people too!
They each have personal interests, passions, family, a favorite team
(even if it is a debating team!) and at least one dear alma
mater.
Now, a professor is going to like a student who shows
up on time, is prepared, participates in class discussions, does not
chew gum, wear a hat, drink water, eat, crinkle paper or sleep.
That's just common sense and basic courtesy.
But, you can go beyond that, and should. Do some
research on your professors. Go to their departmental home pages or
personal web sites and read their curricula vitae. Find out where
they went to school, what kind of degrees they have, articles they
have published or books written. Do Google searches on your
professors.
During the semester, professors will mention
something important to them about their good old days in graduate
school, or teaching here or there, or about some book they have
written. Make a note of it and ask them about it later. It's just
basic human nature for a professor to like someone who shows an
interest in their beloved field of study, or some important
accomplishment.
And it's not “sucking up” to show professors that you
appreciate them enough to know something about them. It's smart, and
you will learn something in the process. It's the same way in the
working world. It's good to know something about people with whom
one is doing business.
You might be impressed with your professors'
accomplishments. A good number of professors are well-respected in
their fields, appear on TV and in the newspaper as experts, are
sought-after lecturers around town and have written numerous
articles and books. It is good to know all this.
One day you might need letters of recommendation for
graduate school, or references in the working world. If you have
worked hard and participated in a professor's class, especially if
you made an “A,” a professor will likely be glad to write a good
letter of recommendation for you or give you a glowing personal
reference. And even more so if he/she likes you.
Grading is subjective, especially on essay and
discussion exams, so think about this. To graduate magna cum
laude, you need to go for “A”s in every course. If you are in a
course and an “A” is 90 to 100 and you have an 89.3 average, you
better hope you have worked hard enough and impressed your professor
enough that he or she might just decide you deserve an “A.”
Or, if you are close to making an “A,” you might be
able to persuade your professor to let you do an extra credit
assignment that will tip the scale and get you your “A.” It can and
does happen.
Of course, if you need a "C" to graduate, and a "C"
is 70 to 80, and your average is 69.3, it is even MORE critical that
you have a good relationship with your professor. You probably will
have to suck up and beg, but you will be much better off by knowing
something about your professor and having a good relationship with
him or her.
No matter what, you'll have lots of professors.
You'll have to deal with all of them. Make it a positive experience
every time.
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