by Chris Leaphart
The life of a graduate student is far from a stress-free lifestyle with ample amounts of time. In fact, some graduate students spend almost every waking minute of their time working towards, or thinking about, their degree in one way or other. Whether it is conducting research for their thesis or dissertation, writing/reading papers, or preparing for next week’s exam, graduate students seem to always have their heads just above the water. Adding to this rigorous workload, many graduate students have the opportunity to serve as teaching assistants. Though one quickly learns that patience is key to success when it comes to teaching, having the opportunity to work with students as a teaching assistant can be very self-fulfilling.
Though frustration is a normal component of life, one can sometimes find it relatively easy to be overwhelmed when teaching others. Particularly in the role of a writing intensive teaching assistant, we see the same repetitive mistakes as we review each of our student’s assignments. A writing instructor’s patience can be tested quiet often by the repetitive occurrence of incomplete sentences, improper use of citations, and mindless word vomit. However, there is hope for our students, because every so often, we can see that shimmer of light shining out of the darkness.
If there is a single thing I have learned during my role as a writing-intensive teaching assistant, it’s that becoming an effective writer takes time, experience, and a few mistakes along the way. From the first sentence we write in grade school to a peer-reviewed article late in our professional career, we are constantly growing in our writing development. One does not simply pick up a pen or keyboard for the first time and compose a beautifully written masterpiece without years of experience first. Students need time to work on their writing skills and many opportunities to do so. Mistakes are inevitable, but having someone help point out those mistakes and walk you through them can help significantly.
Becoming an effective writer takes time, experience, and a few mistakes along the way.
Even though working with undergraduate writers is stressful at times, I can honestly say that I would not trade this experience for anything in the world. Having the opportunity to touch the lives of other students by helping them on this learning journey is completely exhilarating. Having the opportunity to help students improve on a skill that will ultimately help determine their success in the occupational world is, without a doubt, one of the most fulfilling task I have ever been involved with.
Chris Leaphart is currently a second year master’s student at the Daniel B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources majoring in Wildlife Ecology. His research focuses on wildlife ecotoxicology in heavy metal and radionuclide contaminated ecosystems on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. Chris received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of South Carolina Aiken.