**This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who writes on the topics of online university.  She welcomes your comments at her email: katherynrivas87@gmail.com. **

One of the most important aspects of classroom learning at any age level is the developing relationship between teacher and student. This relationship for many young students is the first adult relationship to be built outside of their parents. The teacher-student relationship plays a vital role in how students approach academics for the remainder of their lives and how they view adults as they mature. Once students enter their college years, positive adult relationships remain essential to their academic success. It is through the inspiration, guidance, and wisdom of many of their professors and teachers that college students find their passion, decide on their career, and pursue their dreams. Here are four ways that positive adult relationships improve academic success in students of any age or level.

Role Model

Teachers and professors have the ability to act as some of the most useful mentors for students young and old. As role models, teachers have the opportunity to illuminate new paths for students and create an environment and mindset that supports students and all of their pursuits. One of the most challenging aspects of being a young adult is feeling like an outsider in an adult world. By sharing their “adult” perspective, teacher mentors can demonstrate how to be successful in the “adult” world. Positive role models can be an essential part of  young student’s life.

Support

Along with offering a positive role model, teacher-student relationships open up an important line of support for young minds. Academia and the classroom should be a supportive environment, where students feel open and capable of sharing their mind with one another. It is through positive adult relationships that these students can find the support they need to find their own voice and standpoint on important issues.

Confidence

Furthermore, with a positive support system, students are capable of finding self-confidence and empowerment. This is one of the most essential lessons that a teacher or professor can instill in a student’s mind. Adult relationships help students learn and understand that they can have an impact on the “adult” world they feel so separate from. Confidence in your own opinions and your own mind is an essential step in academic success. A positive student-teacher relationship can help students find the confidence they need to really succeed in the academic and eventually the professional world.

Communication

The student-teacher relationship that is harbored within the classroom is one of the primary places that young students learn to communicate with individuals outside of their immediate family. This line of communication is essential for their future success as students and independent individuals in the “real” world. College students learn just as much from the communication that takes place between themselves and their professors as young students in primary classrooms do from communication with their teachers. This adult conversation prepares college students for adult modes of communication. Learning to communicate confidently and smoothly with adults as a young adult or college student is important to your success both inside and outside of the classroom.