To IA, or Not To IA?
I attended an open house at Newhouse the fall before my application was due, and Associate Dean Joel Kaplan took some time to talk about IA positions. IA stands for “Instructional Assistant,” a term I’d never heard before. Throughout undergrad, this position had always been called TA or Teaching Assistant. At first I didn’t understand the change in terminology, but it’s so that the position becomes more flexible and isn’t limited to the classroom.
No matter what the position title was, it was something I hadn’t considered. I had no TA experience in undergraduate, and I wasn’t entirely sure what a TA did. But a few months later when I was filling out my application, I checked the box that said I was interested in becoming an IA just to see what would happen.
About a week after receiving my acceptance email, I received another one asking if I’d like to accept an IA position for a graphic design course during the fall and spring semesters. First, I had completely forgotten that I had applied for an IA position. My second reaction was to the financial compensation. It varies for each position; however, if I accepted this particular position, I would receive compensation for nine credit hours each semester. Additionally, I would be working 15 hours per week at about $16 per hour. I was convinced even before I knew what my responsibilities would be. 18 credit hours would cover half of my total (36 credit hour) tuition. And the pay was twice as much as I was making at the minimum wage job I was hoping to keep through graduate school.
I accepted the position, went through boot camp and before the fall semester began I finally got some information about my position. I had always known TA’s in the classroom setting: sitting in the front or back of the lecture hall, available for help that I never asked of them. Silent but present. I was very okay with doing that and maybe some grading.
As it turns out, what I actually do is teach. Last semester I was responsible for five classes and this semester I’m responsible for four. I coordinate with another IA who teaches the other half of the labs and one supervising professor.
I didn’t know I would be teaching, and when I was terrified when I found out the week before classes began. Not only had I never taught before, I knew what a terrible speaker I was. I’m generally a very introverted person and speaking in front of large groups of people makes me anxious.
I walked into the lab classroom to start my very first class, and I was nervous. It was still August, so I was hot and my nerves weren’t helping. The first student walked in and sat down at a computer a few away from mine. I said hi and introduced myself as the teacher (which is still weird to say).
I remember the next moment vividly. I told her that my bachelor’s degree was in graphic design, and she asked if I’d ever taught before. I said no, but I felt panicked. I didn’t want my students to think I was underqualified. But without knowing who I was at all she said, “I’m sure you’ll do great though.”
She probably just said that to be nice and continue the conversation, but it made me realize that my students understand that I’m a student too. I’ve kept that in the front of my mind every time I struggle in teaching or helping a student with a problem.
Each semester, I have had the same conversation with at least one student asking how many other labs I teach. I have students ask about my normal courses and then they say, “How do you do this and get all of your work done for your own classes? I could never do that.” I usually respond with something funny, but I’m always happy that they realize I do a lot for them while I’m trying to do a lot for myself.
Teaching is still really hard. It’s gotten easier, but I still wouldn’t say I’m good at it. I’ve learned a lot about why teaching is hard and the struggles my teachers in the past must have gone through. When you teach something over and over and your students still don’t understand it and you don’t know how to explain it. The frustration of teaching students who don’t want to be there and trying to divide your time to successfully help the ones that do.
But it’s also been a really rewarding experience. At the beginning of each semester I have a few students who don’t really get the program; they need a lot of extra help and attention. By the end of the semester they’re using InDesign like a pro and I always tell them how well they’re doing. It makes me feel good that they feel confident in their skills and that maybe I helped them get there.
Being an IA wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be, but I wouldn’t change my decision to become one. Even though sometimes I get frustrated and some classes are more difficult than others, it’s helped me develop as a person and it’s paid off in the rest of my life.
