You may have heard professors, lecturers, and teaching assistants talk about this thing called "office hours." I want to break down what they are, how to use them, and why they are important. 

What are they? Instructional staff have office hours, which is a dedicated period of time in their office to meet with students. 

How do you use them? They usually wait for students to arrive to discuss all many of things related to academics.  Some professors/lecturers/TAs will ask you to sign up for time slots or host these hours on zoom. This will normally be outlined on the syllabus. It is usually best to clarify this expectation on the first day. Never miss the first day of class becuase you want to know how they run their office hours.

Why is this important? This is your time to pick the brain of the professors/lecturers/TA. How often do you get 1:1 time. Think about how many students are in that class? 50? 80?200? How comfortable are you asking that "dumb"* question in front of all those people? If you don't feel comfortable asking those questions in class, now is the time  to come chat in a more chill setting. Use it!

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Finally, instead of thinking of them as "office hours," think of them instead as "student hours." They are yours, you are the student. The title should reflect that. Below is a list of things that can be done in student hours.

*literally no question is a dumb question. Whatever you think is a dumb question, I can nearly guarantee at least two other people are wondering the exact same thing at any given moment. My advice to you is to just ask it. I am also a realist and know that still some people won't listen to my advice ;)

Student Hours

• QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COURSE

  • Assignments

  • Grades (usually direct these to the TA)

  • Topics/themes and how they relate to each other

  • Project ideas

• QUESTIONS ABOUT COLLEGE

  • Other classes to take

  • Minors/majors

  • Research interests in general

  • I'm lost, help!

• MENTORSHIP

  • Letter of recommendation

  • Interested in their research

  • I want to do what you do, how do I do that?

• ADVICE

  • Grad school

  • Career paths

  • Writing

  • Can you look over my resume/CV?

  • Interesting books (academic or just for funsies)

  • Where's good food in town? (maybe just ask the TA, the professor might not appreciate that one as much as I would)

  • Something bad happened and you don't know who else to turn to