June 12, 2014

          In addition to taking Interpersonal Communication this summer, I am also enrolled in Microbiology. Although I’ve seen my new professor roaming the halls of the science building before I never had her as an instructor. As is the case with all of my professors, I wanted to give her the impression that I genuinely cared about the subject and course material. I enjoy getting to know all of my professors because it makes my educational experience far more enriching, valuable, and enjoyable. In order to influence my professor’s impression of me I planned to actively pay attention during lecture, participate in discussions either verbally or nonverbally, do well on assignments, and make the effort to talk to her after class.

          Once I knew that I wanted to give my professor the impression that I truly cared about the course I set my plan in motion. During lecture I felt that I was succeeding in making my desired impression on my new professor. As I actively paid attention and participated my professor frequently looked at me during lecture because she knew that I wanted to hear what she had to say. Whenever I answered one of her questions during discussion she smiled and complimented my response by stating that it was a “great” or “excellent” answer. My professor understood that I was consciously processing the information she was lecturing about, which is a slow and deliberative approach to perceiving during which we examine and think about stimuli. In other words, I made the conscious effort to perceive and understand the important information during her lecture; I wasn’t processing the material mindlessly (Verderber & Verderber 41). When we took our daily quiz I received a high score, which I feel gave her the impression that I truly cared about the course because it implied that I made the effort to understand what was being taught. When I talked to my professor after class I expressed my love for the sciences, which she was happy to hear because she also loved science.

From there, we engaged in a conversation centered around scientific concepts for approximately ten minutes. She appeared to be happy the entire time because she was smiling and laughing. By demonstrating my comprehension of the sciences I showed that I truly cared about the subject and made the effort to understand the material I had previously been taught. She even told me what I could look forward to as I continued to progress in the science program, which proved to me that I had succeeded in showing her that I genuinely cared about science. Regardless of the field of study, only someone with a natural love for a particular subject would enjoy discussing it at such lengths, which is what I felt she thought about me. After executing all parts of my plan, I felt that I succeeded in giving my professor the impression that I genuinely cared about the course.

Works Cited

Verderber, Kathleen S. & Rudolph F. Verderber. Inter-Act: Interpersonal Communication             Concepts, Skills, and Contexts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.