Incoming university students are often led to believe that professors and lecturers don’t care about their students’ success, but in nearly all cases, this simply isn’t true.
As I was gearing up to begin university, a trusted person warned me that in university, teachers wouldn’t see me as an individual, I would be “just a number.” Looking at what little I knew of university education, this seemed like the truth, and it was frightening as a soon-to-be freshman.
And who could blame me? Universities like Brock often contain massive lecture halls that fill up with hundreds of students — none of whom know each other’s names — taking notes as a professor spends hours lecturing in the middle of the room. This setup can certainly be intimidating and might make a professor seem unapproachable to those with individual concerns or questions.
In reality, a shockingly high number of professors do care about their students’ success, and the only thing stopping them from helping individual students is the fact that their students are too afraid to approach them.
Contrary to what the intimidating lecture hall dynamic might have you believe, professors are not untouchable deities meant to be feared. Many are simply waiting for you to ask questions or seek support for their course, but you must make the move if you want their help.
If speaking up in front of 100+ students sounds like an impossible task, fear not. Approaching a professor doesn’t necessarily mean asking questions midway through a lecture, it can simply mean sending them a personal email after class or — better yet — attending their office hours, the day and time of which they’ll have posted either in the course syllabus or on their Brock website profile.
Things like email addresses and office hours are resources specifically put in place to help you succeed. This is why it’s always worth closely examining your course syllabus to find appropriate methods of contacting your instructor.
Some courses — usually those filled with hundreds of students — will break up the class into seminar groups and assign each group a teaching assistant (TA).
Professors may request that students seek help from their TA before coming to them personally. In most cases, this isn’t because a professor doesn’t care about their students, it’s simply because they have so many students that it would be impossible to tend to each individual concern. Be mindful of these situations so you respect your instructor’s request and approach the correct person. If this is the case, your professor will likely specify this during an introductory class or somewhere within the syllabus.
Yet, even in these cases, your professor still likely cares deeply about your success. They can be in direct contact with your TA if a student’s concern requires escalation. That being said, a professor with a large course requiring TAs might still offer personal office hours.
It’s worth mentioning that not every professor will have a caring mindset. As is the case in any industry, there will always be a few bad apples who don’t care about the quality of their work. But to assume this of all your professors is a mistake, one that may stop you from seeking support from genuinely empathetic educators who want to guide you to success.
Despite what you might have been told, you’re more than just a number, and this is a fact that many of your professors recognize. Now the ball is in your court — reach out when you need help and give professors and TAs an opportunity to help you succeed.