The second week of classes is nearly over. What kind of first impression have your professors made on you? How happy are you with the professors you have this semester? How happy do they seem about their classes?

It’s the kind of thing you notice immediately. There are the average professors who give lively lectures, and then there are the professors who can’t teach.

Some of the worst professors give lectures that don’t flow. They present information with moments of dead silence while you’re tapping the pen on your desk or doodling on the notebook. Anything to keep your attention-span alive.

Some of the best professors have flowing lectures, tell stories, are easy going, take the time to learn your name, humor the class without trying to and maybe even give you candy.

This is the combination of professors many students have this semester. After a week, you probably will know which classes may be fun, which classes will last an eternity and which classes you don’t expect to attend until the week before finals.

Professors are a significant factor for students in determining how happy they are in the classroom. Therefore, it’s important for professors to make good, lasting first impressions on students.

But what kind of impression do students make on other students? On professors? On prospective employers?

A good first impression is as simple as delivering a genuine smile. In the season of internship searches, it wouldn’t hurt students to do this more often during interviews.

However, the people who most likely receive smiles are friends. Although making a good impression on them isn’t as vital as it is in a job interview, how you present yourself to your fellow students says much about who you are and how you feel.

Recent studies show that happiness is a big factor in how you present yourself to friends.

Many probably have the good fortune of knowing someone who always has a smile on his or her face. This person is always happy, always cheerful and never fails to make your day.

But what makes this person so happy nearly all the time?

Scientists say it could be inherited. Certain people are born with “happy” genes. These can be seen through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, which illustrate activity in the front part of the left side of the brain. This is the first real scientific picture of happiness.

Brain waves also show sporadic movements when a person is happy. These are especially prominent in toddlers, who showcase high levels of happiness, as measured by brain waves.

But not all of us have “happy” genes, or the time and money to seek experts to measure our happiness.

As human beings, we have moments of happiness, sadness, frustration, anger, ecstasy, disappointment and every other emotion in the world. But the part of us we for which want people to remember us is our happiness.

Although science says constant happiness is most likely inherited, we all possess happiness within ourselves.

It’s just that some have more of it than others.

So what can one without the right genes do to expand the happy portion on the MRI?

Scientists say it has to do with increased exercise, spirituality, friendships and positive attitudes.

Happiness shows most in faces where these are all prevalent. Therefore, their smiling faces make lasting, first impressions on everyone.

So if you’re out to make a good impression on a professor, a student or anyone else, make sure you smile big, be cheerful and leave a favorable image of yourself.

After all, as the cliche goes, you never have a second chance to make a first impression.

---

Shuva Rahim is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.