Most teachers note at the beginning of the semester that students are welcome to visit with them whenever they want.

At the beginning of the semester, this isn’t usually on a high-priority list for most students.

“Nothing’s due so far,” and, “it’s the first few weeks of school,” are the typical reasons students won’t visit professors at office hours until later in the semester.

But I’ve found I get a lot more out of my classes if I take the time to get to know my professors.

Sure, anyone can go all semester without visiting office hours once and get along just fine. But learning about my teachers, to me, makes me value the class more.

Not to mention I feel a little more obligated to go to class everyday. Knowing the professor on a more personal level makes me feel a little more guilty about ditching.

Plus, the things I learn on an out-of-class visit are sometimes even more interesting than the class itself.

I spoke to my sociology professor and found out he is fluent in Swahili, Thai and German.

I was very curious about my humanities professor’s accent. Turns out she is from Argentina, which I never would have guessed. And although I haven’t visited her outside of class, I’m going to make a point of it because her origin spiked my interest of finding out more.

Professors have a story to tell. There’s a different aspect of talking to a professor versus talking with friends. They have a whole other perspective on things, probably because they have more experience in life.

They’re not solely there to give assignments, grades and decide our fate at the end of the semester.

I’ve never regretted spending an hour to chat outside of class. It’s always worth it, and I always learn something new.

Julianna Eveland can be reached at [email protected] or @janeca12 on Twitter.