I am a Teaching Assistant (TA) for the Intro to Astronomy Lab here at F&M.
First off, I urge you to take the class if you haven’t yet and still need a course to satisfy the Lab Requirement. You could have me as your fantastic TA! Now to telling you why TAing is the best on campus-job:
1. Easy Money
Only working 6 hours a week can get you about $40 worth of pay at minimum wage. That money goes straight into your pocket. Why would you pass that up? We’re all broke college students, now aren’t we?
2. Meeting New People
While TAing, you get to have about twenty new people coming up to you with questions. Conversations are easy to get into. And soon you’re making new friends from the class and hanging out with them outside of class.
3. Connecting with your Professors
A professor in your major’s department leads the class. As you work together as colleagues, you establish a closer relationship. The more the professor gets to know you, the more they will invite you to do research with them. Not to mention, they can give great recommendation letters for the future.
4. Experiences in Leadership and Teaching
TAing lets you lead activities with fellow students. This sort of leadership is great practice for the real world. In addition, you learn to better explain information to others in a way that is understandable for them. By doing so, you are making a difference in their academic progress.
5. Review of the Course Material
Who’s heard of “your students are your teachers?” Well its true. As students ask questions, there will be some questions that you won’t know the answer to. This is the perfect opportunity to pursue the answer and enhance your own intellectual interests. Besides that, teaching lets you review all the material you learned while you were a student in that class. What better way to study for Grad School?
So I ask you, what job would be any better?! If you are interested in working as a TA, talk to your department, whether it is Biology, Chemistry, or even Physics, and ask if there is an opening for one of the lab sessions. If not, try precepting for another course. You definitely won’t regret it.