James Student-Faculty Interaction

As a first-year at Grinnell, one of the things I've come to appreciate the most is the friendly relationship between professors and students. Professors are always accessible to students during office hours and via email, but we also get to know our professors as people. It's not rare to spot a professor at a place like Saint's Rest, the main coffee shop in town. A few weeks ago when I was here on break, I went to Saint's Rest and I saw my advisor, Jon Andelson, and we had a nice chat about what we had been doing over break. Professor Andelson has helped me adjust to life at Grinnell, whether it be through his role as my advisor, as he helped walk me through the process of selecting and scheduling classes for the upcoming semester, or in his role as my tutorial professor, as he helps develop each student's writing skills through frequent one-on-one meetings where we look over revisions of written work. In addition, he took our entire class out to lunch in Iowa City one weekend, which was a really fun way to take a break with fellow students. I really appreciate having an advisor who is very invested in my intellectual and personal development, as well as being someone who helps foster a good sense of community.