When I was in college, I did notice -- with some degree of awe and envy -- that some of my friends were able to form close alliances with their professors. At that time of my life, I believed that you had to be brilliant or one of the hip, savvy students who had the chutzpah to see professors as something akin to a mentor and not a remote authority figure. These savvy students went to parties with their professors and were invited to dinner at their homes to meet their families. That wasn't my story.