The ability of relationship-building & maintenance 

Overcoming Social Barriers Through Small Steps

As an introverted person, I always felt embarrassed and nervous to actively reach out  to professors and maintain connections with them before I went to college. Building connections with professors was really hard to me, not to mention the long-term relationship maintenance. However, by consistently attending office hours and engaging in conversations with different professors in college within these two years, I gradually developed the ability to build and sustain these relationships. 

I still remember the first time I went to a professor’s office hour. It was the end of the first week of college. I was in an East Asian Studies class called “Art of Adaptation: Modern Chinese Fiction and Film”. As a first-year student, I was not very clear about the styles and structure requirements of our writing  assignments, so I decided to go to office hours. Originally, I expected the conversation to be very serious and intimidating, since I assumed professors in college would not be as attentive or caring as high school teachers. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my professor was so approachable and willing to patiently answer my questions. That was a great and relaxed conversation, which not only clarified my understanding of the writing assignment, but also encouraged me to go to office hours more often. This experience has helped me build confidence in connecting with professors.

Building Confidence Through Academic Conversations

Now, I am used to going to the office hours of different professors without feeling intimidated. I usually begin with something simple—an insight from class, a question that stuck with me, or even a connection I noticed with another subject. Then, the conversation naturally expands from there. The confidence I developed from this experience helps me naturally transform simple academic interactions into a long-term relationship.

For example, I was in Professor Lisa Dombrowski’s seminar “Cinema and Moviegoing in American Chinatowns: Digital Tools and Storytelling” last semester. Throughout the whole semester, I actively attended her office hours to ask for guidance on my in-class performance and express my interest in  the development of Chinese-language movie cinema in American Chinatowns. Over time, this helped me establish a stronger connection with her, and she later encouraged me to participate in her related research lab. As a result, I am in her Chinese-Language Theaters Project lab this semester. This experience showed me how proactive communication and genuine curiosity can transform classroom interactions into long-term academic relationships.

Relationship-Building as a Professional Skill

Overall, this ability of relationship-building & maintenance is important for me because it not only makes me be more extroverted, but also enables me to collaborate smoothly with other colleagues and partners in the workplace in the future. Later, whether I was cooperating with others in clubs, working on projects with classmates, or discussing ideas in clasees, I became more courageous to speak up and more willing to express my thoughts in a timely manner.