Many people will go on and on about how college is so different from high school. The workload is harder, you have more things to do, yada yada yada. People try to scare high school students by telling them that their teachers are going to be harder; that they aren’t as lenient as the high school teachers. But what people really don’t tell you is that your high school teachers won’t care nearly as much as your college professors.

Back in high school I felt uncomfortable talking to teachers about personal stuff. I remember one teacher who I did not particularly enjoy coming up to me and asking me how my weekend was, and it felt like my body was trying to retreat into itself, it was so uncomfortable.

This is not the case in college. I have found many professors who I have felt comfortable enough with that I opened up to them. I’ve told professors many things about my health background, and even some embarrassing stories about my parents. I think I feel more comfortable around them because they seem to actually care, and I see them as equals, maybe because they tend to be passionate about the same things I am.

This really came to life after I went to England, and got to drink with my professor. (It’s legal over there, and the pub atmosphere is so much more relaxed than the American drinking culture; it’s awesome). But after a couple drinks, I came to the realization that my professor is a human being too, with her own personal problems. During that trip we connected not as teacher-student but as human beings. To this day she still comes up and hugs me when she sees me in the hallway, and that is a rare and beautiful thing.

Teachers are always seen as people to fear, because they, in a sense, control our future. So much importance is put on schoolwork, that we no longer see teachers as people. They are seen as tyrants and dictators. This one of the many things that is wrong with the school system.

In high school any person who was buddy-buddy with the teacher always seemed weird to me. It appeared as if they were trying to suck up, play teacher’s pet. But now I get it. They found a person they could relate to, a person who understood. Who cares if that person was older, sometimes that’s what you need. A teacher is an older person who is not your mom or dad, but it’s still someone who can give you life advice. And you don’t end up hating them because of that long history of groundings. They didn’t know you when you were that stupid immature little kid, so you can have a true adult relationship with them. And that’s the best part, because a teacher can be one of the first people to actually see you as an adult. So go on, go to those office hours. You can get help on that paper, but you might also make a life-long friend.