I start every semester assuring myself that I won’t be as busy this semester. I schedule just 15 credit hours instead of 18 and dream about the possibilities in that newfound spare time. I will use it for working on my portfolio, or working out, or finding a part-time job, I say to myself.
But that never happens, or at least it hasn’t happened yet. Last semester, I added an internship and a part-time job at my college’s radio station. The semester before, I took on my very first internship and doubled down on developing my portfolio. This semester, one of my professors approached me with an opportunity to be his Teaching Assistant. Somehow, this evolved into both a Teaching Assistant position and a voluntary side-job creating and maintaining a new website for a research consortium that he’s affiliated with.
And I took it, because what on Earth would I do with spare time anyway?
So now I spend my Thursday afternoons split between hosting my weekly office hours in the library and observing a class that I got an A in a year ago.
The TA position comes with a class that meets once a month, which allows TAs to receive course credit for their work. The class is structured like a seminar-style graduate course, meaning that all six of us show up with an analysis paper focusing on an assigned scholarly article about education and discuss it for about an hour or so. Generally, we assist our professors with administrative tasks like taking attendance, and collecting or returning students’ work. We also email students with reminders about imminent deadlines, and journal our in-class observations.
Over the course of the semester, I plan to blog about how this experience impacts my college lifestyle, any pertinent observations it may reveal, and why you should (or maybe shouldn’t) consider becoming Teaching Assistant.
So check back here for updates on #thatTAlife
Katya Writes 