Teacher's Pet

After you live for more than... 30 seconds in L.A. you will find out that there are some experiences in life that will test your "people skills." Ever heard of the saying "it's not what you know but who you know?" Well sadly, there's more truth to that saying that I'd like to admit.

Let's say you're a freshman in college. You're taking 4 classes in your first semester and you are so eager to learn from your classes that you never even learn the name of the girl sitting on your right. WAKE UP- for all you know she may be the one giving you a job once you get your bachelor's.

Make no mistake, I'm not saying that you should chat your way through college, I'm just saying college is the best place to build a strong network. The people sitting around you will enter the workforce before, after or with you. They may know the vice president of an advertisement firm. And even if they don't, it's always good to know more people and offer a smile (and hopefully get one back).

But wait, it gets better. Hopefully you're not the kind of person who's terrified of professors because you think if you talk to them, they'll know you didn't do that reading you were assigned last Thursday. Professors do have the ability to fail you, but they wouldn't do it if you do what you're supposed to.

Professors have another ability though, they can give you their backing word- Recommendation letters! If you're like me (and other millions of students with financial need), you'll probably wanna apply for scholarships and most require recommendation letters. Or maybe you wanna apply to a private school, to which you'll need some money, and yeah! Recommendation letters!

You don't have to be popular to say hi to someone and make a friend. Everyone sharing a classroom with you has already something in common with you- you're both in that school, in the same classroom, taking the same class.

Oh and you don't have to bring an apple to your professor on each class meeting, just try to visit them at least once throughout the semester in their office hours. Not only will that help them get to know you better (so they can say something real about you in a letter) but an office visit is usually a sign that you're interested in the class and your college success.