[Igenio]

Hey, What do you guys find helping when it comes to motivation. I think socialising with teachers is great cause it helps you respect them and not want to disappoint them with bad grades.

[DesigningWoman]

It can very helpful to have mentors and teachers who pay more interest in you and that you have great conversations with. I really enjoyed discussing teaching with a prof last semester. I started going early and staying late because I respected her opinions.
However i do have one caution. As a child of two higher Ed profs, I can say this: be careful about getting your feelings hurt. Some instructors at every level are more responsive than others with students. You may run up against a prof who seems to want to have nothing to do with you. Don't take it personally. You are most likely running up against their personal boundaries. It may be they think it is unethical to socialize or maybe are concerned other students might think you are getting special favors. Some are simply extremely busy and don't have time to get to know students. This happens most in undergraduate college classes. In intro classes, they might have literally hundreds of students. Taking time to get to know any particular one just doesn't make sense.
I have had some wonderful relationships with teachers and yes I have gotten energized about their subject and class. I have gotten completely brushed off too.
I would advise to remember all teachers are 100% human. Some are jerks. Some are caring individuals. Many are just going each day to their job. It trick with education is to figure out how to motivate yourself through all their classes.
My sister who 2 and 1/2 years ago completed a PhD at a top research university in a very difficult field with very few women in it. She got to the point where she visualized her goal as in a video game. She took it one obstacle and one reward at a time, never forgetting the end game. The day she walked and was hooded at graduation she sent out a message that she had finally after 30 something years of education defeated the final boss level.

[Miswimmy1]

I think it really helps to find some way to view the subject in a way that is interesting to you. For example, I had to read a biography in a history class that was so boring. The events surrounding the person's life were interesting but the biography itself was so dry. I had to force myself to skim through it. However, I love psychology. I tried to analyze the characters' motives and actions from a psychological standpoint. I ended up writing my term paper on the psychology of a dictator and how childhood experiences can so strongly influence adult behavior.

I agree that it also helps A LOT if you develop a relationship with your teacher. This is not as easy to do at the university level unless you go to a really small school. However, if you can get to know your teachers or professors, it makes the class more ... relatable? In high school, I developed some very strong relationships with teachers (I graduated by I still am in touch with them). Learning about their passion for the subject and how they fell in love with it - their enthusasim was infectious. I don't think that you should strive for good grades because you fear disappointing your teacher. I think the best work always happens when you do it for you. I also think success means more when you can be proud of yourself for achieving something that you wanted to do.

[Perna]

I use to get my professors' doctoral dissertation online and read them to see what interested them and then wrote my paper about that subject, quote them/their dissertation and then argue with some point of it Testing myself and understanding against what I knew they were interested in and very knowledgeable about helped me.