College is hard – oh my God is college hard. One day you think you have everything under control, and the next, you’re crying about your sticky-note to-do list with five things on it while on the way to Five Guys to “treat yourself” for completing step one on your list (which was making said to-do list.) What makes college even worse is all the extra stuff: volunteering, club participation, the extracurriculars – all the resume pleasers. On top of all this, we are supposed to make time for social activities and things we categorize as “fun.” But, all I find fun after all this is laying in bed and taking a 10-hour nap. Anything that requires as little responsibility and participation as possible, sign me up!
Unfortunately for college kids, to-do lists seem to never end, and a mental breakdown is bound to be in your future at least once per semester. Though, what I’ve found has made the biggest positive difference in my college career is having a really good professor. I don’t mean well-educated and knowledgeable professors. I mean a professor that is willing to learn with you instead of talk at you like you are just some young and dumb college kid paying $450 per credit hour (which is basically all of us.)
When you’re struggling in a class, the most comforting thing to know is that your professor understands your situation and is willing to cut you some slack. Every college kid loves waking up to an email saying a due date has been pushed back, especially when you have 20 other things to do that day.
Receiving personal feedback on projects in college is so important because it informs students that their hard work and dedication doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. A 4.0 or 3.0 or any grade point just doesn’t cut it sometimes. The professors that go above and beyond to comment specifically towards your project and effort make such a difference in someone’s college experience.
Professors that base their workload around your other classes are an angel sent from above, because having two exams and a ten-minute professional presentation and speech to prepare for in one day is no walk in the park. It’s nice to know that a professor cares about how much is going on in your life and in other classes to make sure that you have enough time to complete everything; this is a win-win for the professor and student. When I am given more time to complete a project, I can put more thought and effort into it to really go above and beyond the grading sheet.
We’ve all had a mental breakdown in public (or at least I’d like to think I’m not the only one). I, unfortunately, had the luck of having one in the middle of class. It was the week before exams, what did I expect!? The combination of a final project and a final exam all in one class due the next day overwhelmed me. I buried my face in my hands and basically power napped on my keyboard in the CAD lab. I left class with bloodshot eyes and a quivering lip escaping as much public humiliation as possible. But, what I didn’t expect was an email the next morning from my professor in that class. In her email, she apologized for overwhelming me and asked if I was okay. She asked if it was something she did or said that made me upset.
Unfortunately, and embarrassingly enough, I had to respond to this email and explain that it was just a personal breakdown and that it was nothing that anyone else did. But, her morality and thoughtfulness brought me even more tears. I have never received an email from a professor, or anyone of authority, apologizing or asking if I was okay. I think that having at least one professor like this is so crucial in a college education system. It lets students know that their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed and that their feelings and schedules and mental health are valued.
Having an unbelievably friendly, approachable, and knowledgeable professor in college makes all the difference in a student’s day-to-day life. No, professors aren’t paid to be your friend, but they are paid to teach you life lessons and help you become a decent working-class individual. Our lives are hard enough without everyone breathing down our necks about the future, and college is hard enough without having professors like Miss Trunchbull from "Matilda."
