Whenever someone asks me about why I love Amherst so much, I always answer that it’s the people who really make the school so wonderful, and that’s definitely the case when it comes to professors. In high school, I didn’t really form a lot of meaningful connections with teachers, partly because of COVID, and as a result, I occasionally felt a little disconnected from my studies as it sometimes felt like I was just a face among the hundreds of other students that my teachers taught. That’s one of the main reasons I chose Amherst: I wanted to be able to develop connections with professors that would serve as additional pillars of support.
Upon coming to Amherst, I found exactly what I’d been looking for. In my previous blog post, I mentioned how academic advisors are able to support students, and a lot of that sentiment can apply here. However, I figured it might be helpful to highlight some of the specific ways this close connection with a professor has benefited me during my time at Amherst.
One of the main ways I’ve connected with professors is during office hours. Although office hours tend to get crowded before a major assignment is due, I’ve developed a habit of stopping by office hours at least once during the first few weeks of the semester to introduce myself to the professor. This makes it much easier to email the professor later in the semester if I have questions about an assignment and to stop by office hours in the future. Even though I’m speaking from my experience as someone whose largest class has been 40 students, even for large STEM classes that have a little more than that, students have been able to develop connections with their professors through this method. Professors are also really accommodating, and if you’re unable to meet during office hours due to scheduling conflicts, they’re usually willing to find another alternate time outside of office hours to meet.
A lot of students are also able to find student jobs through connections with their professors as well. As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I work as an RA for Professor Peralta, and this was mainly through the fact that I was in her class about history and comics. I was really engaged in the class, and that ultimately led me to developing a connection with Professor Peralta that I’m still grateful to have kept today.
Ultimately, what makes Amherst professors special is their eagerness to support students and make sure that we can succeed. At Amherst, I don’t feel like a face among a crowd of students, and that has not only helped me improve my confidence, but also develop a strong sense of self that resonates across both academics and my personal life.