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What Do Teachers Know That The Average US College Student Would Be Scared To Know

Reflections from a math college professor

Natalie
3 min readOct 6, 2022
Nervous student biting her pencil as she stares into computer
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Years ago, I was asked — “What do teachers know that the average student would be scared to know?”

I was nearing the end of another hectic semester. The stress had already escalated, as it normally does; students lived in my office, and the requests from panicked students were incessant.

“What do I need to get on this next test to get a passing grade?”

“Do you offer any bonus work?”

“What are your office hours? When can I see you?” —

That last question could have been answered if they read the syllabus. So, imagine hearing it for the 30th time and the level of eye roll that’s occurring in my head!

Every semester I welcome a new group of students — but there are some things that just never change when you teach college freshmen. So, when I was asked this question, picture me in the heat of that moment.

This is what I answered.

What do teachers know that students would be scared to know?

Dear student, please pull up a chair as I would actually love for you to know:

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Natalie
Natalie

Written by Natalie

Wife, mother, teacher, people/music lover and writer: sharing bits of her soul one story at a time.

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