I am amazed that a professor would be so surprised by a student using the word "hence". Most professors I've had would probably have taken off points for using

I am amazed that a professor would be so surprised by a student using the word "hence". Most professors I've had would probably have taken off points for using it over a simpler alternative like "therefore" or just a different sentence structure that incorporated the two sentences without needing an adverb to tie them together.