Advice from a former Regent student

At Upper Room on Sunday, Laura and I ate with this couple from Vancouver, one of whom graduated from Regent College a couple years ago. She gave me some very helpful advice that I think I wouldn't have known to do. She said to take advantage of the faculty there. To sign up for time with them and meet with them and talk with them and get to know them. To learn from them from just getting to know them. She actually said it was pretty much in their job description too; to be available to the students. This was particularly helpful to me because I don't think I would have done much of it at all if it wasn't stressed to me. For some reason, as a student, I'm very timid in talking to professors.

I think the reason for my timidity is because I've been raised in a culture with a strong sense of hierarchy. So breaking the boundaries of that hierarchy is very difficult for me to do or accept. My parents are my parents; it's hard to think of them as friends. So anyone around the same age as my parents will be more parent figures than friends. I think this is why I have a hard time just feeling casual with my superiors at work. This spills over into my academic mindset. I would generally only go to professors if I had a question or needed help with something; that is the nature of a professor-student relationship. But to ask him about his family, or how he's been doing lately is something that requires me to switch to a friend mindset and I can't do that easily. But I guess I'll have to if I really want to take advantage of everything Regent has to offer. This is already one way I can foresee I'll be growing as I go there.