Ready, Set, Office Hours

    Office hours has to be one of my most dreaded things as a college student. The idea of entering a room where you stand face to face with the person who determines your fate is mind boggling for me. . 
    For myself, office hours consists of me attempting to conjure some way of getting to know my professor. I've heard tons of stories of people who have become great friends with their professors. One of my friends has even been to her professor's house for dinner and she even babysits her children from time to time. At first I thought it was too close for comfort. However, after thinking about it more I would do the exact same thing if I was in her shoes. Nevertheless, I had to come back to reality and realize that I am not my friend yet, I can get there one day.
     One of the major problems I have with office hours is that I feel as though I don't have anything "smart enough" to say or ask. Especially in my calculus office hours, I would feel as though my question was very trivial to the professor. He would answer my question as though it was matter of fact when in reality, it caused me an hour to work on. After I had my question answered, there would be that awkward silence where we are both anticipating the other person to say something. I think the idea of trying to prove myself to the professor is what keeps me from going to office hours as much. It's like I'm letting my one time experience of meeting him decide if he wants to pass or fail me. In addition, it seems as though professors love to look up how you're doing in the class when you go to visit them. In most cases I am not doing as superior as I would like to and it just makes me feel worse about going to see them a second time.
     Overall, I do not go to office hours like I should, however, it has become one of my top goals for this semester. Thanks to Dweck, I've been able to have more of an open mind towards office hours. However, it's still taking time for me to feel completely comfortable with carrying on a conversation with my professors. I have to constantly remind myself that learning is a continuous process and one encounter with my teacher does not define me as a student.