A questionnaire, responded to by 185 Florida State University student teachers, sought to determine the student teachers' needs and their perceptions of who can be of the most assistance during their field experience. Seventy percent of the responses to the first part of the questionnaire named the cooperating teacher as the most significant helper (significant other). Another portion of the questionnaire directed students to identify the qualities of their most significant other. This process yielded four factors or characteristics: supportive, enthusiastic, pleasant, and challenging. Tables display the factor analyses of the characteristics. In a discussion of this data, it is concluded that awareness training for cooperating teachers must be provided to sensitize them to the student teachers' special perceived needs for personal support. Student teachers are preoccupied with personal anxieties and their self image as a teacher. They respond best to cooperating teachers who bring positiveness and enthusiam to their teaching and interpersonal relations. It appears that student teachers need to be challenged by cooperating teachers to their maximum potential as they lend continuously strong emotional support. Student teachers face the same stressors as regular classroom teachers, compounded by inexperience and general anxieties about their future. Therefore, the training and selection of competent humanists as cooperating teachers is crucial. (JD)