For all of the Freshman college students starting or getting ready to start their first year, let this be a warning to you.
YOUR PROFESSOR DOESN'T CARE IF YOU FAIL THEIR CLASS.
Part of being an adult is being responsible for your own actions and inaction. If you decide to go to class every day, great. If you never show up except for the exam, that's great too. The choice is fully yours, there is no one on your college campus that can force you to go to class, or do your homework, or put any effort into your schooling at all.
Your professor may be teaching four different courses with as much as six different classes per course. They don't have time to waste on students who would rather be partying than engaging in their lecture.
If you don't care about their class, they won't care about your grade.
That being said, your professors do want you to succeed, and they do understand that they aren't your only class. They are human (though it's hard to believe sometimes) and have days they would rather skip their own class and just sleep or do anything other than being stuck in a lecture hall for an hour and a half.
Your professor is a resource to you, the best one you can get in your class because they know exactly what they are looking for in an assignment. There are a few ways for you to get your professor on your side and rooting for your success.
#1
Introduce yourself. Make sure your professor knows your name and not for all the wrong reasons.
#2
Speak to them! Even something as simple as a "how are you today/this afternoon/this morning". You wouldn't believe how many professors are just ignored by their students until the designated class time begins. Wish them a nice day or a good weekend at the end of the week. You don't have to become best friends, just be courteous and engage with the people in charge of your GPA.
#3
Suck it up and go to office hours to get feed back or clarifications. The professor has to be there anyway, so just go. If you have a paper coming up, bring a rough draft and ask them if you are on the right track. Have them read the final copy before you turn it in and fix anything they correct. Take a quiz and go over what you got wrong and ask how you can improve in class.
Show some initiative and care for your performance and your professor is more than likely going to help you and be a lot more fond of you.
A disclaimer for those of you that think they can fake their way to getting the professor to care: They have hundreds, sometimes thousands of students a semester. They can spot a fake or uncaring student a mile away. Good luck.
