College professors are possibly the most intimidating people most of us will ever meet (in our twenties, at least). After seven semesters at Tarleton, I’ve had many of these terrifying adults as instructors. But allow me to let you in on a secret that, if you haven’t been in college long, you may not have caught on to yet: professors are your friends.

Think about it. You’re paying good money to learn this curriculum, and it’s their job to do whatever they can to make that happen. And most of them will do everything in their power to help their students. In fact, I once had a professor put it very bluntly on the first day: “It would take an incredible amount of effort and stupidity to fail this class.”

One of the beautiful things about being the editor of a newspaper is that I get the opportunity to highlight many of the great achievements and efforts of students on our campus. This time, however, I’d like to shift the focus to a few professors who have had a profound impact on me in the last few years.

Man’Dee Mason

You may know her as the petite blonde woman in the psychology department. I know her as the final word on my career choices. Since freshman orientation, Mason has demonstrated profound wisdom that she generously shares with any student in need. She doles out advice with a side of tough-love, and I give her full credit for the fact that I ever passed Writing in Psychology.

Samuel Dodson

Before Dr. Dodson’s freshman English class, I had a deep love of writing but a deeper hatred of research papers. What he understood was that students need a certain amount of freedom in writing so they learn to appreciate it more. He is never shy with honest criticism, but you could never accuse him of being close-minded or dismissive.

Leslie Stanley-Stevens

Dr. S has never forgotten my name. Not once. Whether I’ve bumped into her at the Rec Center or registered for a sociology course, she’s taken the time to notice me. Dr. S is not afraid to deliver the ugly truth about the world to her students, and some of the most thought-provoking conversations I’ve ever had have taken place in her classroom.

Tom Faulkenberry

Never in my life have I met a man more dedicated to his craft. Somehow he managed to drag forty-plus psychology majors through a semester of difficult, frustrating material without losing his cool once. He genuinely cares about his students’ lives, and always answers my tweets. Plus, his name reminds me of my favorite childhood cereal, Frankenberry Crunch.

Ted Roberts and Rusty Zimmerman

I stuck these two together because I took them both at the same time, and they teach the same subject. Other than that, however, the two are very different. Zimmerman managed to narrate the founding of America with enough sarcasm to make it interesting. Roberts, despite being an intimidating ex-military fact machine, brought his own unique charm to the subject with a brutally honest outlook on the mistakes America made. The point is, I hated history before college. I dreaded taking the classes, and put them off as long as possible. But after a semester with Roberts and Zimmerman, two men who truly understand how to connect their students with what they’re learning, I found myself walking away from class excited about what I’d just learned. And it takes a very special kind of teacher to inspire excitement in young adults, mostly because we think we already know everything.

I wish I could go on complimenting my favorite professors – Janice Groseclose, who somehow made me confident in my terrible math skills; Karley Goen, who inspired me to start being more careful about how I use my words; Jennifer Gibson, who is one of the toughest darn women I’ve ever met; Jason LaTouche, who has mastered the obscenely difficult task of teaching twenty-somethings about racism and actually convincing them to listen – but there’s only so much room on a news page.

What I hope you’ll take away from my ramblings is this: appreciate your professors. They do a lot for you, and demonstrate an incredible amount of patience in the process. It’s important to recognize their impact now, so you can start applying the lessons they’re teaching – and I don’t mean the ones about algebra.

Professors aren’t the enemy. They’re not here to ruin your good time or bore you to tears, but they are here to hold you accountable, because in Grown Up Land, dropping the ball on your responsibilities will earn you a lot worse than a D – and that’s a tough lesson for some of us to learn.

Take advantage of what these instructors are offering you. They’ve experienced a lot more than you have in your 20 years of life, and when you insist on overlooking that, you may miss out on something great.