“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me outside of class.”

A student recently said this to me and I was shocked that he was thanking me for this. Talking to students is what I love to do, and it is so ingrained in my practice that I don’t think of it as any sort of extra effort. I think there is a prevailing notion among college students that professors are there simply to impart knowledge and collect a paycheck.

For me, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

I can’t speak for all professors, but I do feel strongly that the vast majority of us genuinely care about our students. We care about you not only as learners, but as people.

When I walk into a classroom I do not see a room full of faceless strangers. I see a group of individuals all with unique identities, backgrounds, experiences, and dreams. When we make small talk at the beginning of class I am genuinely interested in how your job interview went, or how your cat is feeling after a recent illness, or what concert you went to last weekend. When you are hurting, I want to help comfort you. When you are successful, I want to cheer you on. When something funny happened to you recently, I want to hear the story in all its glorious detail.

Not long ago I lost a former student to suicide. Although we only spent about four months together in class, I was shattered. The week that I found out I went to each of my classes and tearfully told them what had happened and gave them the contact information for our school’s counseling services, distraught at the thought of that happening to any more of my students.

I know sometimes it might seem like we don’t care. You might have gotten a bad grade from one of us. We get overwhelmed by the demands of our jobs and seem detached. Our schedules don’t afford us as much time to meet with you as we would like. In these moments it can feel like we are not invested in you and your future, but we are.

To any student who reads this, I encourage you to reach out to your professors and talk to us as humans. You may be surprised by how many of us do want to take the time to talk to you outside of class. We want to hear about your progress, your concerns, your trials, your triumphs. We want to read the funny meme you came across this weekend. We want to offer words of encouragement when you have a big exam coming up. We want to share words of comfort when you lose a loved one.

We do care, and we want you to know that.