Faculty often think of their job as transmitting knowledge, from their brains into those of the students, as if content were just concrete matter being passed along. The relationship between the teacher and student is a subtle one--won or lost at the onset of the semester. Too often, faculty waste their precious first encounter by filling that time with "administrivia." First impressions matter. They signal the beginning or aborting of a relationship. This relationship should not simply be transactional--where the instructor sets the conditions for the semester-long interchange, the student complies, and, in exchange, receives academic credit banked and eventually cashed in for a degree. Instead, the relationship should be lasting--from a positive first meeting to a powerful educational experience--and then to a memorable course that sticks with the student years later. How should an instructor conduct the first class? Certainly not by reciting what is in the syllabus. The author's advice to faculty is to send the syllabus in advance to let students digest details on their own and start the reading so that the class can start in earnest in its first session. The author also encourages faculty to set high expectations for themselves and their students.