It’s a normal thing that you are always asked by your professors to see your TAs to find help with your homework. While many students don’t usually see their TAs, a handful of them do. Why then some students tend not to use their TAs? I conducted an experiment with a number of college students, and eight of them agreed that their answers be shared with my readers while remaining anonymous. From a sequence of most sadistic to most reasonable, the following answers were provided to the question “Why you prefer to avoid your TAs, and better have a low score on the homework?”
S1 “I think the TAs are also students, therefore choosing to see a TA means he or she is clever than I am”.
S2 “TAs have no life. I am not going to waste my time on seeing these bookworms."
S3 “I have no clue why there exist TAs. Some of them don’t really know the class materials. If I can’t do my homework, I prefer to use the professor’s office hours.”
S4 “TAs studied hard, that’s the reason why they score high in the class. If I am not as dedicated as they are, I have no time to lose trying to seek help from them.”
S5 “What the h*ck is that? TAs are loveless students who are seeking attention. Some of them are just trying to find a relationship while TAing other students. I couldn’t care so less”
S6 ” Well, I am very well focused student. I have no time to waste on seeing TAs”.
S7 “Not really, I prefer to use other sources that can help me figure things out on my own. The TA was also a student taking the same class with the same level of knowledge like me. He or she only had more time to spy on the class materials than I do. So, I may be more skilled than my TA”.
S8 "Well! I usually do my best to avoid my TAs. While I respect them, I can say they only put more time than I can to score high in the class. Their level of understanding is not better than mine, so I will try my best to use other resources and avoid them. Time management is all… I will never be that stupid to seek help from TAs.”
Well, as per this conversation with these students, and many other responses that I judge deplorable to report here, I have some advice for all of you, my readers, in regard to your TAs. The perception I gather from most of my peers might be wrong as per my own experience with TAing. TAs are chosen for the most part by the professor. The professor would not randomly choose someone without passion and no great understanding of the course material to guide others. While some TAs may be dishonest and choose other ends for TAing, it is not a good intention to hold on mind that your TA may be in love with you, or trying to seek attention. Of course, your TAs may be good time managers, but I can still agree with some saying that they are just more of a bookworm than you. Since our majors and course calendar are often different, I would think that a student with a heavy loaded schedule would have less time to excel at a class due to lack of time allocation. This last one would still not be justified, since seeing a TA often eases the process of having their homework done with much more understanding and pace.
So, go seek help from your TAs; they are paid for their work, and doing so will contribute to your own time management.
