'Connections Are Everything': Five easy tips for college freshers to cultivate new friends, mentors

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Leo M. Lambert, Elon University; Isis Artze-Vega, Valencia College; Oscar Miranda Tapia, North Carolina State University, and Peter Felten, Elon University What’s the best advice you can give to a new college student? Connections are everything. Research for decades has shown that the relationships students cultivate in college – with professors, staff and fellow students – are key to success.

Simply put, human connections matter for learning and well-being in college – they also set students up for professional and personal fulfillment after they graduate.College students confirmed the importance of connections when we interviewed more than 250 students at three dozen colleges and universities for new book, “Connections Are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education.” The book is free to read online. Although no two had the same story to tell, what they told was surprisingly similar – and reinforced the research on the power of relationships. What can college students do to harness this power to support their academic success and personal well-being? Here are five steps recommended by students and scholars: 1. Talk to a professor: The quality and frequency of student-faculty interactions play a major role in learning.

Approaching a faculty member can feel intimidating. Still, it can be done in simple ways. Introduce yourself before or after class.

Visit during your professor’s in-person or online office hours, which is time set aside for students to meet with their instructor. You don’t need to connect with every professor right away. Start with one in the first week of the term.