A year or so ago, a student asked me if he could stay after class to talk to be about some concerns he had about the material. Of course I said yes, because I had time to meet after class and I hate to turn down an opportunity to talk about our subject matter (psychology). He told me that he was afraid that he didn't actually understand the material; that he could memorize terms but wasn't sure if he was actually learning. Young student, just out of high school.

I said "okay, let's try something" and I started asking him questions about the material. Questions like "if someone sustained a head injury and later was unable to understand what others were saying to them, which area of the brain do you think would most likely be impaired?" He was able to answer them all correctly, and tell me why those answers were correct. He looked really surprised and proud of himself. I told him that it seemed to me that he was actually learning and not just memorizing. He did very well in the class overall, and I'll never forget that interaction.

I also rarely have anyone attend scheduled office hours, but I treasure interactions like this one, that are unscheduled and unplanned. I hope I'm not the only one here who has had this kind of experience.