by Jessica Breger
Contributing writer
All through high school, students are told that in college the professors don’t know or care about them personally. Here at Southeastern this is not the case.
At many large universities this may be a forced truth. With over a hundred students in each class, a professor may not be able care about each student as a person. They may just grade papers and never know the people who wrote them.
Southeastern reaps the rewards of a small university in this matter. The classes are generally small. This allows the professors to get to know almost all of their students.
The professors here seem to take their relationships with their students seriously. Every professor I have had was willing to work with me outside of class and sometimes even outside of their office hours.
Here students have access to professors’ emails and, in some cases, phone numbers. Many professors have even shown that they are willing to sit and talk about things outside of academics.
If a student is struggling with something in his or her personal life, several professors have proven many times that they care about those issues. They listen to the woes of her students and even give advice.
Art professor, Jack Ousey shows he cares in a different way than most. Ousey is constantly joking and “picking on” his students as if they were family. He takes his classes seriously, but also grades each person individually rather than on some set scale.
This means if you have no artistic talent but would like to try your hand at ceramics, you won’t fail. He grades on a student’s effort and progress. To do this he gets to know each student.
Ousey is sometimes hard for new students to handle because of his sarcastic nature and dry humor. Students needn’t be scared off however. He is a very relaxed and fun person to know in or out of the classroom.
Not all of the professors will know a student outside of the classroom of course. Even those who don’t know their students personally care about each one.
Dr. Randy Prus, chair of English, Humanities and Languages, for instance, shows he cares about the students that he doesn’t even know outside of class.
As a low income student I can’t always afford the extra books needed for some classes. Prus taught one of those classes. Instead of telling me to suck it up and buy a book he took the time to help find and alternative way for me to choose and read a book.
These stories are not what students are told in high school. We are told that we will be in a class room where the professor doesn’t know our names. They don’t care if we are in class or if we do well. They show up and teach. That is all.
If you are lucky enough to come to Southeastern, I encourage you to take advantage of what these professors have to offer. Never be afraid to approach them and ask any question you have.
Tell them your concerns. If you have a problem where you cannot attend or need something from your professor or class tell them.
I am very proud to say Southeastern did not live up to the high school horror stories. The thing to know about Southeastern is the professors do know you.
They do care. They do know if you are in class. They will let you know that they know you care and mark you absent.