Sitting Across the Desk from Your Student

“Josh, I have no other students that work as hard as you.”

My balding gray-haired professor said as I sat across his metal desk.

“There are some other students here at our university that work as hard as you but none that work harder.”

It was my second semester taking a class with this professor. I’d invested 100+ hours between class lectures, reading, and studying. I had an “A” for the course. I’d learned things that would help me for the rest of my life. BUT NOTHING meant as much as being affirmed as he celebrated my success in this one-on-one conversation. After this meeting, I was ready to go out and work harder than ever.

Studies show that some professors have observed that their care for individual students is the single most important factor in determining student success.

As you sit down across the desk from your students, remember the power that you have to affirm your students work in your course. Celebrate success. I can only imagine how these meetings will impact your students in their future!