Becoming a Name - Taking it to the Next Level

Professors need to know that you want to learn. Usually, talking to a professor after class and running into them on campus will be enough. But it is possible to take this to the next level? If you have a heavy schedule, or have a particularly challenging class, here is a tip.

Within the first three weeks of class, go see your professor during their posted office hours. You have to do this early in the semester. Late in the semester their office will be full of students not doing well in the class. Find something, anything that you have found remotely interesting. Then ask about additional reading.

"I am very intrigued about the life of Eugene Debs. I looked on Amazon and there are over 30 biographies. Can you recommend the best one?"

Yes, additional reading. Now hear me out. Once your professor gives you a title write it down. Go immediately to the library. Devote one hour to reading the book. No more. This should be enough to get through the introduction and conclusion. Find something in the book that interests you. You will know it when you see it. Write it down in your class notes. Make sure you footnote and record the author and title. Now put a huge star next to this in your notes.

Either in a midterm or your final exam (or both) use the information from this book in your essay question. This cost you one hour of your time. You will get credit for reading the whole book and doing extra work outside of class. Not to mention that you have just proved yourself to be the student who is the most interested in this class.

This is the most important point here. During the first three weeks you will have more time than later in the semester when papers and projects are due in every other class you are taking. Put in the time now to be interested in the class. When your semester gets hard and you no longer have time to read class material you already have your extra credit reading completed.

First Week of Class

During the first week of class you have one priority. Get your professor to recognize you as an individual. This is easier than you think. Most students go to great lengths to avoid their professors. In fact, this week I heard one comment, "My plan is to only speak if I am spoken to."

That is a bad plan. Your professor is not your enemy. Actually, your professor should be seen as your friend. Most people who teach do so because they are fulfilled at seeing young people develop into learned scholars. There are actually very few professors who are not altruistic about higher education.

Your professors want to know that their teaching methods are working. They want to know that you think what they have to say is important. The people teaching you in the classroom are experts in their fields. Many of the fields are very small. If you show any interest at all in the subject or teaching method you will immediately set yourself out from the rest of the pack.

A typical university professor will have anywhere between 75 and 750 students any given semester. Separating yourself out from this hoard of indifferent students is your primary objective during the first week of class. The professor needs to see you as an individual student with an individual learning style, and an individual educational goal.

So first and foremost, speak to your professor after class during the first week. Find something about the class that you can comment on in the form of a compliment, or in one sentence tell a little something about yourself. But always say your name first. "Hi, I am Martin Hitch, the history of the laboring class is an area I know nothing about, and I am really looking forward to this class."

If you ever see a professor on campus outside of class it is imperative that you go out of your way to speak to them. Again, anytime you speak to a professor start with your name and let them know you are getting something out of class. "Hello Professor Blankington, Martin Hitch from your labor history class. That was a great lecture last week. I still can't believe Eugene Debs ran for president while he was in jail."

You don't want to stand around and chat. You don't want to take up your professor's time. Repeat after me. Name and compliment. Name and compliment. Name and compliment.

If you ever have problems in a class and need something from a professor everything will be much easier if they already know you by name. At large universities, and increasingly at small ones too, information on a student is tied to a social security number or a student ID number. Often this is what you see when assigning a grade. It is very easy to give a C or a D to a number. It is very difficult to give anything lower than a B to someone you know. Especially someone you are friendly with.

During your first week of class you must become a name instead of a number.

First Day of Class

The first day of class is always a day of uncertainty and anticipation. You typically receive a syllabus. You get an idea if the class is going to be easy or hard. You get a feel for what teaching style is going to be used. Everyone will be focusing on all of these unknowns. But, there is one thing more important than all of this. Where you sit. You have two options.

Option 1: Arrive early to class and sit in the front.

Most people will try and sit in the back of a classroom, because they think they are inconspicuous and will not be called on to answer questions. In fact, the people in the back of the classroom are the most conspicuous. Sitting in the back is a sign that you do not want to participate and are not that interested in what is being taught. People in the back will be more scrutinized than the people in the front.

People who sit in the front of the class are interested in what is being taught. They are awake. They are attentive. They can hear the teacher. They can see what is being presented. They are the better students.

Let me be clear. The best students sit up front. When you sit up front...you are one of the best students. Even if you do poorly in the class or it is a hard subject for you, if you sit in the front of the class you will be seen as one of the better students and most questions about your classwork will fall in your favor. Let me break this down, you will get a better grade in any class where you sit in the front row.

Option 2: Arrive to class just a little late. Check over the room to see who is the most interesting person in the class. Sit near them.

The next day arrive early and sit in the chair next to where they sat. Do the same the third class session.

By the fourth class, seating will basically never change. People are creatures of habit and they will sit in the same chair in a classroom as if they were assigned.

Here is the key, however. Don't ever talk to the person you choose to sit beside. Just go to class and do your work. Focus on the class no different than any other class. Because remember, you are also sitting next to the most attractive person in every other class.

Why do this? Its just about increasing your odds of cool friendships. Eventually, there will be a study group, or a team project, or something. And eventually the person you are sitting next to will ask you to team up with them. If they do, you have just developed a friendship with the most interesting person in the class.

Friendships lead to relationships far more often than creepy people who try and talk to you in class. That's why you don't talk to them. If they never talk to you then what do you care. YOU are just focused on the class, remember!

Introduction

My son Martin went to college today. He is attending a small liberal arts university outside of Chicago. I am sitting in the Caribbean. I am finishing a three-year contract working as the Director of a small national museum. I have one week left.

When I came to the Caribbean I thought I would finally have time to write my book "How to B Average." Well, it is three years later...

This blog will be the basics of that book. But now it is just the notes that I want to write to my son. This blog will detail my experience in higher education. And hopefully it will distill a few pointers that will help him be a better student.

I have many skills and I can do many things. But after a five year undergraduate degree in architecture, a Master's degree in architecture, a Master's degree in history, and a Ph.D. what I am an expert at is going to school.

This blog does not offer ways of "cheating." This blog does not teach you how to "manipulate" people. This blog does not give you tricks to make college "easy."

What it will do is tell you how I came to understand that achieving the most education out of my higher education was not always the traditional way that most people think it is. Going to college is more than going to school. It is learning how to learn.

Learning to learn...learning to be a student...learning to love college...

Now that is something I can teach you.