The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Column: Take a chance on your teachers

I couldn’t keep my head in the classroom. By the end of each day I felt totally drained and anxious. Normally I’d sit near the front and attempt to answer en espanol. But for two weeks, I’d forget simple vocabulary when called on and barely finished my homework each night. I could tell my professor was confused by this change in my work.

This is the time in the semester when something similar happens to many of us. There’s no longer a rosy start-of-the-semester glow, and personal things start to build up. It’s so cold that there’s no longer any reason to consider leaving your dorm. You start drinking coffee at 6 p.m. and the employees at Alpine are seriously worried about your late night coffee consumption. You’ve learned the names of each Wendy’s employee who works after midnight.

With the academic slippage comes the worry that professors think you’re a slacker. That good, old-fashioned UNC insecurity comes in — do I really deserve to go here? Am I just lazy? Do my professors take my inattention as an insult? Fortunately, these questions are answerable.

Our professors are people too. Last January, when my grandfather died of Alzheimer’s, I had to miss class for his funeral. I was worried professors would laugh it off as another dead grandparent excuse. But I emailed them anyway, explaining the situation. Several professors responded to extend their condolences and share similar stories.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, depressed or anxious, take a chance and talk to your professors about it. Sure, they might give you a curt response or say something rude. But please: Don’t assume that that’s the only outcome. Talking to your professors about hardship is the best way to turn a semester around, especially considering how much of our validation as students comes from how we think our professors perceive us.

Maybe that professor has battled depression too. Maybe that professor has dealt with a learning disability. Maybe he or she has dealt with addiction and understands the difficulty of recovery.

Back to Spanish class last semester. I eventually got up the courage to go to my professor’s office hours.

“I know I’ve been slipping these past two weeks,” I told him. “It’s not that I don’t care about your class — I do. I’ve been having a really hard time at UNC lately.”

I didn’t get into the details with him — the struggles with adjusting to the male-dominated culture at UNC or how I wondered if I’d ever feel safe here. I just told him I was having a tough time, but that I cared about his class.

He told me that he had noticed a change in me and was glad I’d come to him. He said he understood and asked if I needed anything. He didn’t give me any special treatment, but our relationship had changed.

Knowing that he saw me as a full person made me feel safe in a challenging class and knowing that these relationships are possible has helped me feel safer on this challenging campus.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.