Long before I enrolled in college, I had heard rumors that the professors were far stricter and less understanding than high school teachers. Teachers, relatives, and friends of my parents had all warned this to me, in the hopes of scaring me into taking more personal responsibility. The actual effect this had on me was one of fear and intimidation of the college classroom environment. I was pleasantly surprised to learn the professors in college not only are more understanding than my high school teachers, but they also seem to truly care about their students’ learning experience. I’ve had multiple professors express they care more about helping students learn rather than placing pressure on grades. In my experience, this approach seems to make all the difference in academic performance, attendance, and overall participation in the classroom. Rather than feeling frozen in intimidation, it allows students to come forward with problems or questions. Not once has one of my professors denied me an extension when I have a valid excuse, given me a poor grade because they didn’t like me, or looked down on me because I didn’t know an answer – all rumors I was led to believe. Instead, I’ve been met with helpful and kind responses to all these things. Going into college, my mindset was one of hoping to simply get through it, but it soon changed to focusing on how I could grow from it. Overall, I’m grateful for this subversion of expectations and it’s made my experience here much better than I originally thought.
angry professor -Adobe Stockhelpful professor – ThoughtCo
