College Flirting

[ltorivia]

Hello, I'm new to this board and I'm wondering if anyone can answer.

 

I'm a college student and this past spring I've witnessed that a professor may have been flirting with me. I'm only 19, but he's around 37 - 43 years old. (I have no idea how old he is but he got his Ph.D. around 1992-1994 so i think late 30s/early 40s is accurate guess). And he's single.

 

Since my university is small, it's easy to be personal and have access to professors whenever you have questions. I do this to almost all my professors whenever I have questions, I immediately seek their advice either via email or office hours. Professors here are really nice. However, this one professor may think I was pursuing him romantically when in fact I only wanted information from lecture.

 

In class, I noticed how his behavior changed. He would call me "Miss (Last Name)" all the time and smile favorably at me when lecture was over. There were less than 40 people in my course so it wasn't hard for him to spot me. Then one time I was talking to a friend after class and she left, he approached me (still feet away) and called me "Dr. (Last Name)" as if I was his equal or superior and still smiling and staring at me. I felt a tad embarrassed.

 

Outside of class, I noticed that he came into a cafe that I frequent after lectures (same building, his office is on higher floors) and he saw me. He gave me a "shy" "Hello" smiling but I never paid attention to him. When I turned around after finishing my order, he vanished. Another event occurred when I walked into his office during office hours commenting about his lecture style (He has a very smooth, monotone voice that could put anyone to sleep.) and how he needs to stop mumbling and speak up. Yes, I said it like a strong woman. He giggled at me as if I was adorable (!!!). But the next class day, he told class that one of their classmates asked him to speak up and he did. Class was shocked. I just wanted to smile inside. It's events like this and in class that I started to put the pieces together to figure out what he was doing and feeling.

 

I will say I'm not an unattractive woman (nice shape, 5'9", intelligent) and he happens to be tall and good shape himself (6'2-6'3") and quite an extremely intelligent gentleman. He just happens to teach courses within my major. However, the professor-student relationship seems like a violation and can never happen regarding ethics. I noticed he treats me differently from other students and I don't know if I should worry. I will say I prefer men closer to my age to like me than someone of his level.

 

My question is: Was this man flirting with me and thereforeeee has a genuine interest in me? Or was he just being a nice guy?

[ang3l2004]

Well in my opinion it could be one or the other,I am not sure how you feel about this man but does it make you feel uncomfortable that he does these things?If you are interested in him you could always talk to him but I am unsure of that.I would say from the way you explained things he maybe interested in you a bit more then just someone in his class he may just come out and tell you oneday soon so be prepared.Let me know what you think about this situation and if you are ok with the fact that he is like this.Good luck with everything pm me anytime you need to talk

[johnagent1911]

Doesn't matter either way.

[goddess23]

there probably is a SLIGHT attraction there for the both of you. maybe just the idea of playing out the classic "professor student relationship". i think you both are subconsciously doing very slight flirting. i mean maybe generally you are a very friendly talkative person (i have the same problem, people think im flirting with them when im actually not lol), and maybe that is his personality. but he probably does do a little flirting, but not enough to send an actual clear sign out because of the nature of your relationship. its just a fun fantasy to think about really, i doubt either of you will act upon it from what i can tell. hes being a litle extra nice to you, because he finds you attractive and thinks you might have a little crush on him which makes him feel good about his middle age self. its nothing to actually worry about unless feelings actually start to develop. but right now it seems harmless.