Episode XXXIX: Instruction

As I have mentioned previously, I am now officially being paid to be a Teacher. That is, I am being paid to be a Teacher’s Assistant (TA). I teach two classes worth of Biology 203: Microbiology Lab. Both classes are very good classes, and I rather enjoy teaching the kids. The micro labs are kind of odd in that they use two TAs per lab, one graduate and one undergraduate, and we take turns teaching. The graduate TA tends to teach the more “complicated” lectures and grade the more “important” papers. Below is a picture of me with one of my undergraduate TA co-workers (dig the blue lab coats!)

This class is a Tuesday-Thursday class at 9:30, and my co-worker’s name is Alisha. As many of you may remember, my little sister’s name is also Alicia. So every time someone says “Adam and Alisha” I immediately am transported back to my childhood, playing with my cute little sister. The other interesting thing about Alisha is that she also works in my lab, doing dishes and sterilization and stuff. It's a small world! Or at least a small college town.

The dude circled in the above picture is Ryan, and he is totally cool. He is a lot of fun, and together we get a little wild in lab. Sometimes, in fact, I have seen a (particularly uptight) student or two roll their eyes at us. We tend to do constructive things such as talk about music, fake box, talk about guitar hero, attempt keychain-throwing tricks, watch music-videos and talk about sports. We also find some time to lecture and help students.