So now that everyone’s somewhat accustomed to the first days of class, the frantic running and walking around to get to a specific classroom all the way across campus in less than a minute is familiar. There is an aspect more important than actually attending the classes you signed up for, and that is actually enjoying the classes you sign up for. Maybe that was difficult to understand. You need to have at least a 30 percent interest in the class you’re taking in college because if you don’t, there will be days you wake up and say to yourself, “There’s no way,” and fall back asleep as your class begins in the next five minutes.

But a very significant and important part that I have learned is that professors and how much a person enjoy them, plays a huge part in how the grade ends up at the end of the semester. If you have a boring, monotone professor and you’re a person that enjoys lively, active people who jump up and down and use the full range of their voice, how on earth will you manage to deal with this person and expect to perform at 100 percent?

Use the first week to determine your success as a student. Some people treat the first week as a joke and others take it pretty seriously. I think, through personal experience, it is very important to use this time to your best advantage. Go and find out if your professor is the best or just makes you hate life. I can’t speak for every college, but I do know universities allow you to drop or switch classes. If you find out that your professor and you just don’t get along, save yourself a giant headache and stress and switch the class. Go to your academic advisor and ask them to recommend good professors and good classes. People know that other people suck. Just because they work together doesn’t mean they can’t empathize with you.

You’ll all eventually learn, if you haven’t by now, that grades are actually a big deal in college, along with the strenuous hours of studying and pushing yourself required. It isn’t easy and we all know that by now. Success is a very important part of our culture. Don’t destroy your earliest opportunities. If your professor just isn’t for you, you need to get out of there! I’ve seen more than enough students that hated their professors and walked out of the class with a struggling grade or even failed. It is important that you have a relationship with your professor, as in, he or she can recognize you and seem genuinely interested in anything you have to say.

Whenever I feel like what I say matters, I feel more inclined to bust my a** to get the good grade. When I build my schedules now, I aim to find classes I like with professors I like.