Why did you want to be a TM?
When I was at my TA training day I learned a lot from the Teaching Mentors and realized I also had knowledge to share; I wanted to do what I could to help TAs just as the Teaching Mentors helped me. I also was motivated to be around other people who love teaching as much as I do and the other TMs are TAs who are also committed to being the best TAs they can be.
Tell us a highlight from your TM experience.
On TA training day I was having the students tell me what made them nervous about TAing. An international TA who had an accent said they were worried about students not understanding them. I and all of the other TAs took up the situation together: we brainstormed different strategies and talked about the bias that can be directed at TAs with accents. It was amazing to see a group of TAs across different departments come together to develop solutions to a problem that wasn’t relevant to most people in the room. That type of community collaboration and support is exactly what I love the most about the Teaching Mentor program.
What would you say to someone considering seeking nomination?
Do it! Being a teaching mentor has been an extremely positive experience during my time at UW – Madison. You get to connect with other graduate students who are passionate about teaching and work with the College of Letters and Science to continue to improve our undergraduate teaching. Also, as someone who is currently on the job market, multiple interviewers have asked about collaborative service work that I have done to improve my institution, and being a Teaching Mentor has helped me have a solid answer to that question.
