When raising your hand to make a comment during lecture, you feel safe and secure in the company of your classmates. If you say something incorrect or just plain stupid (we’ve all done it), you can take comfort in the support of your peers. They, too, have made unimpressive comments and were probably thinking whatever it was that you had the guts to say aloud.
When knocking on the door of your professor’s office, you are painfully alone in your stupidity.
Visiting a professor during office hours is essentially sitting in a cramped space with a large desk and saying: “Hello. You are very smart. I am not. Please help.”
As you make your way through a conversation with your professor, you pray that the words coming out of your mouth will form coherent, and somewhat intelligent, sentences. When they laugh, you’re deeply concerned that they may be laughing at your futility, but hope that--just maybe--they think that you’re funny.
As a painfully nerdy and annoyingly eager first year, I have experienced my share of office hour encounters.
Yes, it’s intimidating. Yes, you will laugh awkwardly at inappropriate intervals. But, at the end of the day, these professors are some of the smartest people that you will ever have the opportunity to interact with. Take advantage of the chances that you are given to get to know them. They have found their one true passion and they have chosen to share it with you. Allow them to do so.
Make sure to come in with questions and to say thank you at least 17 times. Talking to a professor one on one will actually make you more comfortable speaking in lecture—and not just in that one class. Plus, they may even give you special tips and hints that the rest of the class will not get to hear in lecture.
To all of the professors that I have bothered in their office: thanks, guys. Should I bake you cookies or something? Maybe that only worked in high school.
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