During my freshman year, I took a wide variety of classes. Being that I was undecided, I wanted to get a range of classes to explore a little bit of everything. One of my favorite classes was my “making babies” class. I toyed with the idea of becoming a nurse, more specifically a NICU nurse where I’d work with sick and premature infants. Throughout the course we learned about contraception, conception, pregnancy, labor, newborns and premature babies; everything I was interested in learning about! As the class came to an end, the professor announced she’d be looking for TA’s for the upcoming year. At first, I just brushed the idea off and continued on with my life. After thinking about it again two weeks later, I thought it’d look really good on my resume and decided to apply. Little did I know, I’d get the position and would soon be starting over the summer preparing for the fall semester. Being a teacher’s assistant has been a fun, hectic and exciting journey and I have loved every minute of it.
When you’re first offered the position to become a teacher’s assistant, there is the option to be paid or to get credit. In both circumstances, it’s a beneficial offer. I chose to make it a paid position so I can earn some extra cash because, as we all know, college students are broke, and I want to try to prevent total bankruptcy. The TA’s get paid for going to the class, which for me was an hour and a half twice a week, office hours and time put in on the side doing things like grading, meeting students or sorting exams. It was a nice way to get money without having to leave campus. If you choose to get credits, it can help you stay on track to graduate, or even getting ahead.
Once the school year begins, you’re immediately thrown into the work mix. You have to learn to balance not only your own schoolwork, but the work of the job. Becoming a teacher’s assistant has taught me to become more organized and use better methods of time management. Both of which, I thought I had mastered but when dealing with not only your own problems, but 545 other students too, you quickly realize you’re not as organized as you once thought. Eventually with time, I got the hang of it and it became a lot easier.
Being that you once took the class and did well in it, student’s turn to you for help. At first, I wasn’t confident I would remember the material or that I could help someone who I knew from outside of class. I will admit I was timid and nervous to schedule extra help for students during my office hours. Quickly I realized, if you do it once, you can do it a million times and all the information from the previous year comes right back to you. After a few students came, all my fears were gone and I welcomed students in, even when I didn’t have office hours scheduled.
As the semester winds down and I finish my TA workload, I got a chance to reflect on the previous semester. I loved the experience and hope to continue for many semesters in the future. I’ve learned to be more organized, step out of my comfort zone and that I remember more from last year than I think. If the opportunity to become a TA for a subject you’re genuinely interested in is presented to you, I highly recommend applying. Maybe if you’re lucky enough to work with an awesome professor like I am, you’ll be entertained during class, get funny Halloween text messages and invited over for soup to get some last-minute work done on a cold day. If you asked me a year ago if I thought I’d be a TA, I’d say no, but I’m so glad I got the opportunity to become one!