This past Wednesday I attended the talk with Dan Schwarz regarding preparation for College and beyond. The two most impact items he mentioned were getting to know your professor, and changing your academic adviser to someone that cares about you. As a result, I’ll spend my journal reflecting upon those two topics.

Dan suggested trying to get to know one professor very well each semester at college. He suggested going to their OH, saying hello in class and when ever you see them in the hallway. He also said that if you only accomplish 50% at least you know 4 professors really well. The reason this stuck with me was because it made complete sense. These people are the professionals in the field you are interested, so they are quite knowledgeable about anything you may have a question on. Additionally, when it comes to peer reviews they will be very willing to help if they know you well. Given that I’m a junior and my time is halfway done, I’ve already begun to think about post college life. As a result, I thought this talk was quite important and valuable.

He also mentioned switching your academic adviser to someone that actually cares about you. This made sense as I’ve only spoken to my adviser once, and he isn’t in the field I am most interested in. However, he is still a very nice guy, and from our one encounter he seems interested in my pursuit. Nonetheless, the talk with Dan made me realize I need to take advantage of getting to know my professors while I am here before its too late.

I recommend to anyone reading this to go talk to all the professors in you classes and get to know them ASAP.