Thursday, February 5, 2009

Slightly surprised...

I'm not quite sure what to say, but I had quite the surprise today when I went to office hours. Professor Halle Shilling, without a doubt one of the best professors I've had, displayed tremendous anger towards me. For the last few weeks, I have been greatly enjoying myself in my Non-Fiction class. A great reason for this enjoyment had to do with my professor.
Halle Shilling had been teaching non-ficton to students for a good many years now. However, she does not seem to like to talk about her personal life.
When I went to her office hours earlier today, she seemed slightly reluctant to talk to me. To be honest, she always seems to be a little busy. When I went to her office hours in the past, I still got a cold sensation from her. Regardless of my impression at the time, I wanted to have a good conversation.
Being the curious individual that I am, I often like to ask personal questions. I asked my professor about her future aspirations. Rather than answer the question like any normal inidividual, she gave me the cold shoulder. She seemed rather hesitant to talk to me, meanwhile actually creating quite the awkward situation. I felt uncomfortable with her, and I'm sure she felt the same with me.
Which leads me to the point that, as a professor, you should expect students to ask you relatively personal questions. First of all, my question wasn't so personal (what's the big deal when I'm curious to see what my professor has written and plans to write). Secondly, it is relatively rude to treat a student in such a way. I was given the impression that I had invaded some unsanctioned personal space when all I had asked was a relatively innocent question. Obviously, this pissed me off slightly. Hopefully, Ms. Shilling will develop a better idea of the way students often tend to interact with professors, and that it is okay to ask personal questions. Office hours don't absolutely have to deal with the class. But. then again, Ms. Shilling only teaches one class per quarter; if she had taught more, she might understand more clearly the relationships that many students develop with their professors.

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