Michae Baisden/Opinion Editor
Frustration occurs in every student’s mind when they struggle with class material and search for a place to go to for answers. So many times, they turn to Google, or ask a friend, or in the rarest of occasions, turn to a book. But many students neglect a resource right in front of them many hours in the week.
A professor, that individual talking endlessly about the subject that doesn’t truly hold your interest, is what some people may call an expert on the matter.
Professors make themselves available to students consistently in the hours outlined in their syllabi.
But for some students turning to a teacher may seem inconvenient or unnecessary.
You’re rushing to get to the next class, forgot to read chapter three and the class is in an hour and a half, or you haven’t eaten all day.
These are all valid reasons to dismiss the office hours, but if you can make the time, you should.
I didn’t learn that until my senior year, and I’m not saying I regret the fact, but now that I know the benefits, it just seems silly to disregard someone there to help you.
On my last assignment of fall semester, my professor in my reporting class allowed all of us to do a rewrite. He went over mine, said I should change the lede, rearrange the story completely and bring it back for the next class.
I went home and made the corrections he made and a little of my own. When I turned it in, he read it and said that it was A- work.
I walked away thinking, “well damn, if only I’d went to him the whole semester.”
No one seems to have the time to do something twice But if doing a first draft makes a C+ an A-, some extra time should be the least of our concerns.
And with the availability of the professors, it seems to be fair that they look at us with a brow raised when we ask for five chances for extra credit.
Most of us have opportunities to come in before the test and time to visit the tutoring services to edit the research paper.
Then again, maybe you don’t. Maybe you have a 30-hour-a-week job, loads of homework, are a member of a club, or have a family to take care of. But once again the method here is balance. And don’t be ashamed, if you can’t manage it all don’t do it all.
Our professors want us to succeed, they want us to understand the material they’re teaching us, but they also want us to reach out and speak up for more knowledge. Professors can only meet us halfway.
We need to take control of the resources we do have, instead of blaming others for pitfalls we could have otherwise overcome with a little vigor.
One thing I’ve learned from one of my professors here at FIU, it’s that you can’t sit back and let life happen to you.
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