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Kira Kramer 0:00
Hello everyone. We're students from the UNLV Honors College Student Council and second year Senate with diverse academic disciplines. We are bringing you a podcast series say Yes to Success, where we discuss personalized strategies that have made us successful in our academic journey and beyond.
Noor Nadeem 0:17
In our last episode on study tips, we briefly discussed the importance of building relationships with your professors, because this is such an important piece for successful college experience. We want to dive into that topic more in this episode and
Ryan Nunez 0:31
onto our first question and to our podcast, we want to ask everyone here is, what do you think is an important way to connect with professors and faculties.
Sarah Chemplavil 0:41
Well, I guess to start off, my name is Sarah. I think that one of the reasons why it's really important to connect with professors is to when we think about our futures coming ahead. Networking is one of those buzz words that we always think of, and when we think of networking, it sounds like a scary thing, like, oh, we have to talk to people and sell ourselves. And, you know, that's a scary thing to think about, but when you start in the classroom with the people who teach you and see you at least maybe twice a week, that's an easy way to start. And that can be as simple as, you know, raising your hand in class, you know, speaking up, and even just going after after class, and like, going and talking to professors, building those relationships, that's a great, easy way to start. And I promise your professors are actually the nicest people, and they want you to come and talk to them. So even though it may seem scary at the start, it'll actually make their day if you go and even just say, how are you like? How has your semester been? Things like that.
Noor Nadeem 1:34
Yeah, I definitely agree with Sarah. So I'm Nour and what I think it's important to connect with our professors and faculty members, because by creating this genuine relationship with one another, these are the people that are going to help you later on in life as well, especially if you do need recommendation letters, these are the people that are going to write them for you and really just help you be successful in the future.
Ryan Nunez 2:00
And I echo everything that Nourse Sarah has said. My name is Ryan, and I really want to add on to this, because I think this question is phenomenal. It's really something that we really will have to think as a student, whether we're a first year, a second year or a third year. We want to build a network as early as possible, and I think college is the safest place to do it, you are among peers, like minded professors and faculty who are each and every single one of us are here to support each other. And so I really think it is important that we connect with professors, knowing that this is a community of people who are here to be there for you, where, once you go out into the real world, if you think about it, as do you go move on to your first year into your second year, you kind of realize that you're going to need people behind your back, and these are the first point of people you can meet who are professionals.
Kira Kramer 2:47
Absolutely. Ryan. Additionally, I want to add that professors are gateways into different types of experiences. If you're an undergraduate student who perhaps wants to get involved in research or community service, or if you meet a professor that has a background in a particular discipline that you find yourself called to get to know your professors, because they can meet help you meet other people. They can get you involved in research and other meaningful experiences that not only build your resume, but help you get to understand what direction you want your professional and academic path to move in. Ultimately, they are full of knowledge, wisdom and experience, and they're an untapped resource. I know oftentimes we talk a lot about different resources, and maybe it's a website, or you can go to the writing center and access those types of resources, but professors are at your fingertips. They're in your inbox, and they are ultimately some of the best resources to tap into. And
Ryan Nunez 3:44
you know, our responses comes with a lot of experience, knowing that these professors have been interior, and this really goes us to the next question that we have, that we would all love to add on to this is, have we ever connected with a professor that we didn't take a class with? And what was our experience in that?
Kira Kramer 4:02
I would love to comment on this question, my experience in the Honors College. I had heard many of my friends in their undergraduate experience taking one of our professors, Dr jernik, for writing. And I think I remember at this time I was a freshman and sophomore student, and I kind of avoided taking her course because I was told that it was a very difficult course to take and to pass and to do well in because she shapes students writing so well, and that can be challenging when you're coming from a background where maybe you didn't have really intense English or literature classes. However, when I started a an honors college research thesis, she was my honors faculty advisor, and so for the first time, I got to get to know a professor and the Vice Dean of the Honors College through an unrelated kind of academic setting. And this was an incredible experience, because I got to know this professor in a capacity, and. College, she's not directly grading any of my work yet. I'm getting this wealth of critique without being stressed about a course. And that was really incredible. And I think what's so awesome about the Honors College is there are so many opportunities that students have to be able to meet with professors outside of the academic setting. If you're volunteering, there's the great dam ride. And our professors also host different walks for various causes throughout the semester and throughout the year. And this is a really great way to talk to professors during a field day. I remember I was strapped to one of the other professors that I've never had before for like a three legged race. And it's so interesting to get to know like professors, faculty and staff in this more laid back and casual way too. Ultimately, I think that is the wonderful connection that your professors can be, not just in the academic setting, but outside too.
Sarah Chemplavil 5:54
Yeah, that's a great point. Kira, I actually was thinking about, and I don't think I've had an experience like that with the professor, and it's making me realize that something I can take an advantage of. But I will say, as I was reflecting, there is another member of the Honors College faculty who I had built a connection with, and that is Charles, who is our development officer. And it actually just started out because I work at the UNLV foundation, so I met him at a work retreat, and then I talked to him, and I realized that he's the officer for the Honors College. And I was like, wait, I'm in the Honors College. And that started us talking. And ever since then, whenever I see him in the lounge or in, you know, in rll, I kind of stop him and I say, Hey Charles. Like, how are you doing? And he's like, Oh, hey Sarah. And like, we always have, like, a report going on now. And so even if it's not a professor, you should actually think about all of the faculty we have here on campus. So while that might not always be beneficial in an academic context, it can honestly just feel good for a sense of belonging, especially in the Honors College, to talk to any of the faculty we have that could include like Charles and Dr Terrell, so many names I can think of advisors and yeah, I would say, think outside the box a little bit and talk to anyone you can, because most everyone here is extremely welcoming and wants to have a conversation. Yeah,
Noor Nadeem 7:04
I definitely agree. I actually do have a funny story that prompted me to actually join the second year Senate. So our former advisor for the second year Senate, Dr Vance, I actually she was actually my English teacher back in 11th grade. So when I saw that the application open for to join the second year Senate. And I saw that Dr Vance was the advisor. I just felt like a deep connection with her, because I loved her as a teacher back in high school. So she really did prompt me to, like, you know, get out of my comfort zone and really just like, join the second year Senate. So I guess that's like, an example of how you can connect with the professor for a class like, you know, even though I did take her 11th grade class, I never took, like, any of you know, any classes here with her. So, yeah, yeah,
Sarah Chemplavil 7:49
that's a great point. And actually, adding on to that, when you join clubs and get involved, there's always an academic advisor, or, sorry, a club advisor, who's behind that. And so even just getting involved, you might get in touch with professors that way. That's how I've gotten in touch with like other professors in my department, like the English department, because I met my advisor through poetry club. There are different ways, even with like you were saying with honor student council, we had Dr Vance, those are different ways also to meet different professors, and even professors from backgrounds you might not be familiar with. And while that might not always seem like immediately beneficial. It never hurts to build a relationship with someone that you come into contact with.
Ryan Nunez 8:25
And Sarah, I really love that you brought up the fact that, you know, we make these connections and they lead us to basically opportunities. And honestly, not many people realize it, but we don't give enough credit to our academic advisors, who a few of them have also been professors as well. I want to give credit to at least my academic advisor in the Honors College, Marlon or Kiko, for really he was be, he was a great mentor to me as I was a first year student. And he really resonated with my plans, my academic plans. And he even told me of the classes that he would regularly teach, which was transition, which usually changes every every round, now and then, when he really told me about his path to college and being successful in the career he is. And the one thing that really was strong to me because I tend to resonate with those who are in my major, and I'm a history major, and he was also a history major. And so these connections are also can add on to the idea that, like you can build a softer connection with your academic advisors because of their own path as well. Like they're not just there to support you, they're there to also just, you know, be the guiding star for you there too, and even if, in their field, as a professor, they have that experience to carry with them. And that weight is important because it is going to be relevant to the way we kind of proceed with all our other professors as well. But that moves on to our another question. Because honestly, when we talk about professors and we talk about the expectations around them, we really ask ourselves, like, what do we do towards meeting our professors expectations without entering what's like, to say, a territory of. Craving academic validation from them.
Sarah Chemplavil 10:02
Okay, so in terms of academic validation in healthy doses, it's actually a good thing, because when you take a professor for multiple classes, for example, you build a relationship with them. I can give my example, Professor chin. I had him for honors 100 and then I decided to take him for honors 110 and I quickly realized, as I was doing assignments for him that I was like, Oh my gosh, if I don't get like, the best score possible, I'm gonna let him down. And that's not a good mindset, but it actually is gonna be what drives you to do better in classes. So I think building relationships and wanting to impress your professors is a good thing, but be cognizant of what that looks like for you. And if you find yourself stressed out over not doing the best you possibly can, that's okay. You don't have to get, like, a perfect score on every assignment. Chances are, if you're showing up in class and like being a active participant talking to your professors outside of class, they're not gonna immediately see you as a bad student. If you lose a few points here and there, yeah,
Noor Nadeem 11:01
I definitely agree. I definitely like, just don't think you should have the mindset that you should crave, like, academic validation from them, because you will have professors where you think that they will write your letter of recommendations. But the reality is, is that sometimes you won't necessarily click with them. So it's definitely just like, here and there you will find genuine connections, but you won't find it with all of your professors. And
Ryan Nunez 11:25
I always believe the idea that it is always going to be about your perspective on how you're going to approach a professor, because what we want to do at the end of the day, and I always want to recommend this to anyone, and I tell this as to my mentees, because I have been a pyramid for my colleges. We want to humanize our professors. They're all as human as we are as well. And not everyone in the Honors College, especially professors are, you know, just strictly Honors College, there's a lot of visiting professors out there that who work at a specific 400 level course. And I want to give credit to Michelle Turk. She's a great history professor, and she's been a phenomenal advocate for a lot of the students I've seen in my classes. And really the most humanizing about this is that you just realize that they're not just a professor from another college, just coming to the honors they come to this to Honors College because they're very passionate on a special topic that they're interested in teaching. And so if they're that passionate on it, you know it is never you should never be afraid of directly approaching and just talk, have a real talk with them about what you're passionate about, what your interests are and like, really what you want to get out of the course, because they're teaching it for a reason. And you know every time is precious, and it's very important that you acknowledge that they are human as much as you are, and we're all learning in this experience, and so treat them as a human as much as you are, and every professor as really just being there to teach you
Kira Kramer 12:48
absolutely. Ryan, I also want to pose another question to the group, what are some of the best practices you all have for reaching out to a professor or meeting with a professor, and what do you think you should do to prepare for a meeting with your professors. I
Ryan Nunez 13:04
want to start off Kira by saying, well, first and foremost, it's okay to be afraid of talking to your professor. We all have that idea of, you know, of a superiority complex, like, Oh my God, his professor knows so much they do so much. They're adults and we're students. But you know, that is one thing. It is about the mindset of how you approach them. You know, you gotta keep an open mind. You want to be able to think that, oh, you know, what is there to lose by asking? You know, it's there's nothing wrong with asking something that you don't know. When a professor tells you don't ask, it's okay to ask stupid questions, ask the stupid question, because, honestly, they are there to hear you. Maybe you don't want to do in front of everyone in a classroom, and that probably goes on to your second point. Then go talk to them in their office hours, read that syllabus, find those officers, whether it's virtual or in person. There's several ways you can get in contact with them. Maybe they want to. Maybe there's no in person option. You can try to arrange it with them. Maybe have that available. There's nothing to fear with a question you have, maybe you cannot get an answer, but only from your professor, and it's okay to be afraid.
Noor Nadeem 14:06
Yeah, I think that's an excellent point, Ryan, regarding, like, what you talked about, like office hours and all that. Even if you don't have time available for when the teacher has the professor has office hours, they are always willing to accommodate for you. I've never had a problem myself where all I do is just email them and then you can have like a one on one meeting with them. And that's another way on how you can, like, establish a genuine connection with your professor by even having like, one on one office hours with them.
Sarah Chemplavil 14:38
Yeah, I agree. And speaking of that idea of scheduling outside of their office hours. Usually they have a tool called Calendly. Not all of them do. I see that it's 5050, but if they have a Calendly, that's a very easy way to just go and book an appointment. But other than that, obviously, look at their syllabus and find their office hours. And I will say that when it comes to office hours, you don't always have to have a question, a. Um, in mind, let's say you don't actually know, like, or let's say you're doing completely fine in the class, and you're like, Well, I don't need to know anything, so I just won't go. You should still go, actually, if you're doing great in the class, that's even more reason to go. So I would say, go to office hours and be like, hey. Like, this is me from this in this class. And I was kind of, like, curious about, like, your background and, like, how you what made you choose this like career path, what made you choose this major? How do you think this could help me with the thing that I'm majoring in? There are so many different ways to have conversations, and I don't think that it should only be in a situation when where you're in dire need of some kind of academic help. I
Ryan Nunez 15:35
just want to add one thing on top of that, because, you know, initiative isn't always a great first impression. Maybe you don't want to do that. Calvin, maybe you don't want to have, you know, ask you first write that email. They have that email in that syllabus, write it to them, ask them the question, if they can meet. You know, it's always a good first impression from, I think, anyone here who was willing to be servicing their students. Maybe it's a professor, maybe it's a faculty member. They are doing it because they want to hear from you. If you could take that initiative, there's a lot of power to it, and it looks good, because the one thing that we're always all afraid of is making the wrong first impression. But the one good thing that you can make in a first impression is taking initiative.
Kira Kramer 16:18
Thank you so much for that. Ryan also moving into our next question, are there any resources that you all think are useful and helpful for getting to meet your professors? I
Sarah Chemplavil 16:30
mean, like we said, Calendly, for sure, if not that your plain old Gmail app, open that email, enter their email address and be like, hey, like, I want to come to your class, or even the canvas messaging like these are all any form of content that you have with your professor, take use of it, and if not even like, this isn't a resource necessarily, but staying after class if they're open to that. It's not always about like finding something specific. It can also be about just finding those windows where they might be free and then talking to them there. But yeah, in terms of physical or tangible resources, Calendly, Gmail, Canvas, for sure,
Kira Kramer 17:03
awesome. I also think that when I I'm a public health major, and when I was a sophomore, I had the opportunity to attend a public health conference in Nevada, and I ended up meeting professors that I wouldn't have until this year and but I was building a relationship with them two years ago, and got to attend this conference and get to know their academic disciplines and what they were working on. Now I conduct research with one of those professors, and the other one is teaching me in two of my courses. And so it's really cool to see how you can meet your professors in the wild, if you are engaging in the types of groups, activities and other events that your professors attend. Maybe ask them in class if they are attending any events or getting involved. And in the Honors College, a lot of our professors are at volunteer events, highway cleanups and things like this
Ryan Nunez 17:53
and Kira. There's always more to learn about you and all the amazing things you do. And so I really want to give kudos to that, because honestly, it's always a learning experience, and we all should hear from you of what you're able to learn and your networking opportunities to be where you are right now. But you know, I really want to say about that, like, honestly, there's also those on our student council events that we host every single year, and I really want to say that this is really your first point of contact for networking. I know it doesn't sound like a resource. It is a resource. You don't many people don't realize it, but the resource is in the hand. It's literally in the fingertips. It's right there. One of the most popular traditions that the Honors College host is friends giving, and I think that was where it opened my eyes to see how I am able to meet and find those professors and just engage with them. It was friends giving. I've saw so many professors there who were just there, just to stop by see the amazing students in the Honors College and Honors College to just see all that having good time. They want to see you succeed. And honestly, it's very much important that you treat networking as an opportunity by going to these events, I know maybe you have a busy schedule, but mark out that time because it is valuable to you as it will be for them, too.
Noor Nadeem 19:08
I definitely want to stress what Ryan has said, definitely attend the honors college events, because you will see familiar professors and faces, and so when you take that class, you'll realize that you are gaining a connection with someone that you've seen before, with a professor you've seen before. And also these professors are also advisors for some of these clubs that you might want to attend to. So that's another great resource. By joining different clubs and see and seeing that sometimes these honors professors are actually your advisors.
Kira Kramer 19:43
I have another question for you guys, when you're taking your courses in the Honors College or outside of the college in your major, what do you do when you have a professor that you don't gel with, maybe you don't like their learning strategy, or you're finding it really hard to be successful in their class? What do you guys do? You
Ryan Nunez 20:01
know that's, I think that's a tough question. Is very important, because I know I talked a lot about humanizing of professors and a lot of ways students, and not just in the Honors College, but in every college at UNLV, they will look at rate my professors as a measurement to decide of whether this professor is good for me, you or anyone else, and honestly, I will strongly want to say I'm against the idea that we're using as a measurement to decide that, because you don't really know your professors until you really meet them. And I have, I've had professors who I will be honest, I did not have the greatest experience with in a way that, like maybe I didn't like to act there the way they structured a course and all that. But you know what? I just really treat it as, as a way of a challenge, because I think the best thing you can get out of college, I've been able to build on my perspective on is that you have it challenge you in ways that you don't really get to often. And I want to say, like, this is probably one, one of my professors right now I'm taking it's online, and, you know, the professor is really strong on terms of grammar and in terms of way of saying that, like, you know, just to improve your writing, you gotta face the grade penalty. But as I take this course right now, this semester, every penalty I get, I realize that I get to learn. It's a challenge I'm actually get to overcome because I noticed my grave improves, because I'm fixing my mistakes on maybe a paper, I'm writing a discussion post I'm writing, and it's important to treat those challenges, those obstacles, as a learning experience. And I just really want to say that no matter the professor you get to have or take, maybe you don't like them, find a way around it. We're honors college students. We've always found our way around to be where we are now. And you know, it's not going to stop there.
Sarah Chemplavil 21:44
Yeah, that's very true. I think that in terms of seeing it as a challenge, I know that's not for everyone. It's not always easy to have a positive can do attitude for everything. And if that's the case, that's okay at the end of the day, it's just a semester that we have for classes now. It's not like high school anymore. You can soldier through. But if that is still like a difficult thing to get through, honestly, I would emphasize even more going to office hours, because I think that sometimes first impressions can be quick to put us off, and we can be we can feed into those and think, Okay, well, they're definitely not going to like me. I don't like them, and that's just how it's going to be. But maybe if you go to office hours, actually, this has happened in my own experience, I have gone to office hours, and the professor showed me a different side that I didn't see originally, and they were very generous and nice. And I asked a bunch of clarification questions because I wasn't sure about a lot of things, but it was always very gracious answers coming back from that professor, and that actually changed my entire outlook on, you're right, on Rate My Professor, because the rate my professor was not looking too great for this one, but then I had a way different experience. So obviously this won't always be the case. Sometimes it will just be a bad deal that you're dealt but it is worth trying to build that relationship, because you could be surprised. Yeah, I
Noor Nadeem 22:52
definitely agree. I'm someone who uses Rate My Professor very religiously, but there are instances where I just have to take the class for the professor who doesn't have the best ratings. But honestly, it's not, it's not really that bad. You can, you can still succeed in that class and overcome that challenge.
Kira Kramer 23:11
To move into our last question before we wrap up this podcast episode today. Can you guys share some of your favorite experiences with professors, inside or outside the Honors College. It's such
Ryan Nunez 23:21
a good question. We're really thinking about this totally. I want to say, at least for me, I took Dr Michael Green's honors, 110 honors, 111 course, and I'm a history major, so of course, I vibe with this history course. But Michael, Dr Michael Green took it in a way where, honestly, he made it an enjoyable class. He made it where there's a there's more things beyond just learning the course, but actually having fun with it. And one of the, one of the craziest stories he was talked about was when he basically had this baseball baseball glove. And he's been talking about this baseball glove for an entire semester that like it's just an obsession for him, because it was from a specific team. I think it's the Dodger. So Dr Gray, if you're listening to this, please don't, please don't find me. And so I really want to say, like, there's these crazy stories that they try to pull out that, like, honestly, it engages with the class and we all enjoy it. And honestly, that made it in a way I felt comfortable, and that was one of my favorite experiences, and one of the first honors courses I ever took in the Honors College.
Sarah Chemplavil 24:24
I think the memory that's coming to mind for me was a specific class of honors 110 with Professor chin, and we were talking about Beyonce, and we were having a debate, and it was a two page article. I think he was planning to spend, like, maybe five minutes on it, maybe a little bit longer, but then the entire class ended up being a debate about whether or not we liked Beyonce and whether we thought she was like an ethical role model. And what I really liked about this class was that he just kind of let us take the conversation where we wanted it to. And I think that's a defining quality about him, is that he knows how to let the students take control of what they're learning in a way that is still. All conducive to actual learning outcomes that he planned for us originally. But, yeah, that's like, a really fun memory. I look back on I told my friend about it afterwards, because she missed that day and she regressed to this day that she didn't show up for that class. It was really such a fun, such a fun time with Professor chin.
Noor Nadeem 25:15
Yeah, I don't necessarily have like, one favorite memory, but I will say that as a biology major, I just love having at least one honors class per semester, because it really just adds diversity to my classes. And I truly love just having, like one honors 110 with Dr Doyle, having honors 115 right now with Dr Bob. It's just adds great diversity and just great memories in general throughout my semester. Well,
Kira Kramer 25:43
thank you all for all of your amazing answers. You honors. College students are incredible, and we are so glad that you are sharing all of your knowledge and resources with everyone. And thank you to our listeners for joining us for this podcast episode, and we hope you'll join us for the next one. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Everyone. Good night. Everyone.