Reflections...

Almost every TA participates in two vital functions: grading and office hours. These together put the TA in an excellent position to judge every student's individual weaknesses and strengths. It is therefore imperative upon the TA to help fill gaps in students' understanding through interesting homeworks, insightful recitations, and honest feedback to the instructor. As a TA I have always strived to create fun-to-do homeworks which not only help revise essential concepts from lectures but challenge students to explore those concepts in novel applications.

But is that the end of a TA's responsibility? I believe not. A good TA should create an amiable learning environment for the students. They should be able to count on the TA. I have tried to achieve this by maintaining an open door policy, allowing students to come up with problems at their convenience. This has required a lot of time, and often demanded tremendous patience but teaching is such a rewarding experience that every bit of it has been worth the effort.

I feel very honored to receive this award. I am glad that teachers and students have liked my work.