Learning Experience #3: The Importance of Professors' Appreciation and Passion

As everyone knows, or soon discovers, with college comes a new-found freedom that much of us have never experienced before. In high school, you had to go to class. That’s just how it was, at least for me. The only way you didn’t go is if you made up some excuse to your mom to why school would just be absolutely unbearable today, or you played the good-old “I’m obviously too sick to go to school even though I secretly just want to play the brand new video game that came out yesterday so I could be a higher rank than all my friends and they will all be jealous of me and ask me how I am so good and how in the world my mom was cool enough to let me skip school to play a video game” card. But that was a rare occasion. College is different. You are in complete control with what you want to do with your day, even if that means skipping classes all week.

When I look back on my first year of classes at TCU, one thing sticks out every single time. The classes that I consistently attended, enjoyed attending, put the most effort in, and learned the most in all had one thing in common: the professors appreciated the students and had a passion for their job. Put simply, they made it their personal job to not just teach, but to develop a relationship with the class as a whole and with the students individually. I believe this teacher to student relationship building is imperative for a student to come to class and, in more broad terms, enjoy college and ultimately succeed at a University. Having the opportunity to enroll in small, engaging honors classes and smaller-classes in general was one of the primary reasons I came to TCU. I knew this is something that I wanted in a University and I felt like TCU could provide me with this opportunity. Now, not every teacher I have had thus far at TCU has lived up to this bill and I would be lying to say that is how every class is here, however, I have sincerely treasured the professors who work to know their students and I attempt to make it known to them that I genuinely appreciate their effort to create this sort of environment. 

During the canoe trip, in which I shared a canoe with Dr. Williams, I told him about how he and Dr. Bob Doran were my only professors this semester who gave out a ‘survey’ to learn more about their students. Obviously, this is one of the first steps in developing relationships with students. Not coincidentally, my two favorite classes this semester have been with these two teachers. When teachers try to get to know their students outside the classroom and appreciate their attendance on a daily basis, students are more likely to put forth more effort and enjoy their time in school. I know that the handful of teachers that do this have greatly contributed to my enjoyment and my success so far at TCU.

Although my learning experience about the importance of professors’ appreciation and passion is not necessarily useful at this point in my life, it will definitely be applicable as I move forward in my post-graduation career. In the future when I have co-workers, or in the case that I hold some sort of management position, it will be extremely beneficial to reflect on this learning experience and try to imitate the appreciativeness and passion that some of my professors had during my time at TCU. Professors have a tremendous amount of impact on their students and I hope they always recognize this and continually attempt to put their best effort forth each day.