I didn’t apply to UT in high school because I pictured large lecture halls with professors who didn’t know a single students’ name. So instead, I went to a small liberal arts school with an undergraduate population of 2,000 students, where I figured student-professor relationships naturally thrived.

To my surprise, I didn’t find any strong connections with educators there. I had amazing professors and small class sizes, but I later realized that strong relationships aren’t merely circumstantial. They take effort from both the student and the professor.

However, when I transferred to UT in the middle of the pandemic, I was surprised by the conversations I was able to have with professors through Zoom. I started asking more questions and attending office hours more frequently. In turn, I started receiving emails from professors regarding topics they knew I was interested in.

Strong relationships between educators and students promote better learning and positive classroom experiences, and students should take the initiative in pursuing these relationships to enhance their learning experience.

Especially during online learning, professor-student relationships can seem meaningless. Yet there’s proof that they are in fact valuable and worthwhile, and it’s visible in the well-roundedness and success of students who engage in these relationships.

History junior Mark McShane, who first graduated from UT in 1990 with an engineering degree, reflects on how the nature of student-professor relationships has evolved.

“I never really had any interaction with my professors in the 90s at all, and now the professors are listening to the students,” McShane said. “It’s sort of a collaboration and it’s really a two-way street, and the teachers are available to meet with students.”

McShane admires how well-rounded students seem in comparison to his experience in the late 80s. It’s probable that the evolution of student-professor relationships encourages student curiosity, work-ethic and confidence in the classroom.

When I wrote my very first article for The Daily Texan, I received an email from one of my professors praising me for the work I had done. It was unexpected but super meaningful, and I think about it every time I sit down to write another one. If I hadn’t gotten the chance to know my professor then I never would’ve felt that same sense of pride and encouragement.

These relationships are mutually beneficial. Professors cherish their relationships with their students and learn a lot from them too.

Dana Jones, an adjunct professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, strives to make her classroom a “safe container” where relationships can form.

“I learn from students as much as people might learn from me; I mean, I really mean that,” Jones said. “That energy exchange and relational kind of contagion that goes back and forth, is just to me what it’s all about.”

Teaching is all about the way professors and students bounce off of one another and learn from each other for the better. There’s a certain energy that’s present in the classroom when this happens. It makes the learning experience more collaborative and empowering for everyone.

Student-professor mentorships are valuable relationships for both parties. For me, they’ve deepened my love for learning and passion to do good in the world. Students should take the opportunity to find out what these relationships could mean to them.

Lawrence is a social work senior from Austin, Texas.