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The awesome experience of being a TA
LIBBY
Major: Psychology
Minor: Spanish
Hometown: Bentonville, AR
Year: Junior
One of the best things about Fort Lewis is the relationships that you are able to build with the professors. In my 3 years at The Fort, I have not yet had a professor that didn’t at least learn my name, and most actually spent the time to get to know me. Knowing my professors on a more personal level just makes the whole college experience more enjoyable. It is so nice being able to walk into my professor’s office whenever I need to ask a question—or sometimes just for a chat!
My freshman year I took a psychology class called Life Span and Human Development with a wonderful man named Dr. Anziano. The class was very interesting and I ended up doing quite well. Afterwards, Dr. Anziano asked me if I would be interested in being his Teaching Assistant! I readily agreed as I knew it would look great on my resume and would probably even be a little fun—but
Me and Dr. Anziano
it ended up being so much more than that. As a TA I help with tasks such as grading assignments and conducting research for his lectures. This past semester I was even able to write out lesson plans and help teach a few classes!
Being a TA for Dr. Anziano the past 3 semesters has been an invaluable experience that has taught me so much. Dr. Anziano has become something of a mentor to me. He has been a huge help academically, and not only that, has just been a wonderful person to have in my life. He is an incredibly kind, caring, and brilliantly intelligent person for whom I have so much respect. Whether it is for academic advising or talking me through minor life crises, Dr. Anziano’s door is always open. By embracing this opportunity, I not only had the awesome experience of being a TA, but I found a mentor, academic advisor, and even sometimes a counselor and friend. This type of relationship with a professor is something so unique to Fort Lewis and I feel so blessed to have experienced it.