In order to be truly successful in college or in academics as a whole, students must understand that they will get back what they invest. We are past the stage of a free ride through life, where our parents can make any bad situation better. While it is time to think for ourselves and take responsibility for our actions, shouldn’t there be someone here at RPI to turn to for help?
For all aspects of campus life, there is someone whose job it is to help students through difficult situations. Dealing with a lot of emotional problems? Someone at the health or counseling centers can help. Falling behind or struggling through a class? Visit your teaching assistant during office hours, seek out learning assistants, or confide in your advisor. There are numerous resources available to help students with whatever ails them, but surely there must be one place that offers all this help. The source of this assistance? The fine professors who can make or break a student’s classroom experience.
When I was going through some really tough personal events my freshman year, I confided in a therapist at the health center, but I lost interest in that connection. It was his job to listen to my problems and help me through them—I didn’t feel like I had found a friend or mentor. As my emotions started adversely affecting my ability to do schoolwork, I had to share at least some of my story with my professors. I found one professor in particular whom I felt comfortable talking to, and I really felt that he cared about my well-being and future in academics. All of the help I needed came from one man who did everything he could to get me through the semester.
So what takes the average professor and turns him into a mentor and friend—someone who gets satisfaction from helping others? When The Princeton Review asks students about their professors, they consider dedication to research versus teaching, accessibility outside of class time, and communication skills, among other traits. According to The Review, the highest ranking schools have professors that make students feel at home in their offices. They are passionate people who truly enjoy what they do, and they are like finding a diamond in the rough. Do the professors here at Rensselaer measure up to these qualities?
Everyone has had that one special professor, but who has felt so strongly against one that they have been forced to voice their opinions? If compassion is a trait of the good professors, what about the ones who make us want to cry or get us so discouraged that we lose sight of our goals? Is it ever okay for professors to question their students’ dedication to academics, to judge whether students will succeed in their current career path? If you answered “I have, I hate them, and no,” then you are not alone. As someone who has been discouraged, it is no surprise to me that Rensselaer didn’t make the list of schools with the best professors. The Institute did, however, place second with the schools having more to do on campus. Ironic, isn’t it, that in a place where almost every student claims there is nothing to do, the social life outranks the quality of professors. Perhaps next time you complain about boredom, you could spend some time teaching professors what it means to be caring.
