<p>I have a professor who teaches a course in my major and I admire her a lot. I enjoy the course, think she's a good teacher, and she's a friendly person. I have gone to her office hours a number of times, and while she probably realizes it's out of diligence, I'm afraid of making her feel awkward or uncomfortable. While the majority of the time we discuss the course material, I have asked her questions that are related to the subject matter but presumably about me (a frequently mentioned topic in this class is discrimination law and I have asked questions such as "what would a person do in situation x if they were discriminated against?"). </p>
<p>I have also had conversations with her that may have been too casual, or were at least more casual than I would engage in with another professor-e.g. we have discussed politics leading up to the election, and I didn't see anything wrong with it at the time because we seem to have similar political views. I didn't say anything inflammatory or controversial, but I'm still afraid of crossing any professional boundaries. </p>
<p>She seems like a very open person during lecture and has mentioned her family numerous times, but I feel like I'm behaving inappropriately if I mention my life at all. I think she likes me well enough because she told me I can visit her at any point to talk about what courses I should take and opportunities in my major, but I feel like I may be coming across as clingy or needy by visiting her often (with good reason) and having conversations take a personal spin. </p>
<p>Is there anything in particular I should do? If I need to visit her again, should I make sure to keep our conversations solely based on academics? Would apologizing make things weirder? Even though I am an open person, this is the first time this has been an issue or concern for me. My relationships with other professors have generally featured mentioning our lives less even if I was friendly with them. I view her as a mentorish figure and I would feel bad if I was making her feel uncomfortable, irritated, or God forbid thought I had a crush on her.</p>