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xsakurax · Post by **xsakurax** » 16 years ago

And I bet the real working world is much worse! Sometimes I kind of don't mind doings piles of assignments and projects and having to study for exams, but it's really stressful sometimes.. But I doubt the real working world is any better... So yeah, just enjoy whatever we are doing now! Haha. I'm still happily enjoying my holidays before school term gonna start in 3 weeks!

Mathmaniac · Post by **Mathmaniac** » 16 years ago

tcliffy:

Grad School is worse than Undergrad in most cases. The homeworks take more time, the exams are few and far between (which means one screw up on an exam can change your entire grade drastically), and for me, I am a TA, so this semester I'm actually teaching 2 sections of Statistics. All I can say is: 6 hours of teaching the class, 14 hours of prepping and grading per week!

Seriously, if teaching is an interest of yours, definitely pursue it. We need more good teachers in the world. I'll probably (hopefully) be teaching high school math at this time next year, once I finish my masters.

Oh, and a word of advice to the high school students: learn to get an education, not just a piece a paper saying "I graduated."

kjackson83 · Post by **kjackson83** » 16 years ago

Mathmaniac wrote:tcliffy:

Grad School is worse than Undergrad in most cases.

Hear, hear...

...I actually probably wouldn't take it as far as "worse," but things are much different around here. You've definitely got to be "with the program" 100% of the time, or the sheer number of things to accomplish will bury you like an avalanche--it's almost literally killer intense. I'm TAing a class of 450 unruly students--that's a real challenge on your people skills, especially when the age difference between you and your students is a matter of 3-4 years at the most.

On top of the TAship are your own classes--in history, we do an enormous amount of reading: usually an average of two books weekly.

Grad school requires a serious commitment to getting it done, and it's an unforgiving, if rewarding at the end, taskmaster.

xsakurax · Post by **xsakurax** » 16 years ago

Wow? What's a TA? Teacher assistant?

kjackson83 · Post by **kjackson83** » 16 years ago

xsakurax wrote:Wow? What's a TA? Teacher assistant?

Yeah, a teaching assistant. We grade, hold review sessions, interact with the kids, and in general serve as a buffer zone between the students and professors.

Mathmaniac · Post by **Mathmaniac** » 16 years ago

TA's act in different capacities depending on the department (and university). For instance, as a 2nd year math TA, I am essentially the teacher of two sections totalling 65 students. All lectures, quizzes, and exams are mine to construct, except for the final. I'm a bit worried that I made an easy exam though. My first one, which I gave on Tuesday and graded Wednesday, yielded an average of almost 87, and only a couple people failed, though no one earned a grade below a 60.

TAing takes about 20 hours in and out of the classroom a week.

Classes on top of TAing sum up to 9 credit hours, but about 3-5 times that much (minimum) for homework per week. The good thing is, I am only going for my masters right now and looking to do some high school teaching afterwards, so lecturing definitely helps.

xsakurax · Post by **xsakurax** » 16 years ago

Wow, and do you guys study at the same time? As in being a TA and a student of the school? Sounds unbelievable, and really lots of work, time and commitment. I guess you need really good grades to be a TA right? I haven't really heard of this term until now. How do you guys cope? Man, I don't think I can do it like you guys!

Mathmaniac · Post by **Mathmaniac** » 16 years ago

It's true that you need to keep your grades up (i.e. not failing) to keep your TA job, and I believe I need a 3.0 (B) average to get my masters, but it really isn't as bad or as hard as it might sound. One of my roommates is a student at the medical school close by, and his weeks are much harder.

Something I've learned from years of schooling: If you want to do something, you will rearrange your schedule to do it. (eg: choir, scouts, etc.)

xsakurax · Post by **xsakurax** » 16 years ago

Tomorrow is back to school for me! New school term officially starts tomorrow! Time really flies and I haven't really enjoyed my school holidays! How I wish school holidays to be much longer. ARGH. Oh well. And of course, I'll still drop by Libera dreams as often as possible to check out news about the boys. Actually, I visit this website every single day. If I don't I'll feel a little uneasy. LOL. I call it "Libera dreams syndrome".

I love the boys and this forum so much!

tcliffy · Post by **tcliffy** » 16 years ago

ugh, I've gotta write a 10 page (min.) essay on Dr. William Harvey's anatomical practices regarding the circulation of blood and the heart.

kthomp · Post by **kthomp** » 16 years ago

sounds sooooo fun ty, i just had to write 15 pages on why play is important in childrens development. (i think i repeated myself lots

)

xsakurax · Post by **xsakurax** » 16 years ago

Wow, all sound like tough topics.. The most pages of report I wrote was like 90 over pages for a mass media research module regarding corporate reputation. And that was a group report. Sometimes school can really be stressful because of all the workload. Sigh.

kjackson83 · Post by **kjackson83** » 16 years ago

Since we're all writing essays...

I just got through grading 130 essay exams and don't ever want to hear the words "American" and "history" in the same sentence again...

...was anyone aware that the "American Revolution began because of a world war between Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the State of England"?

tcliffy · Post by **tcliffy** » 16 years ago

you mean someone actually wrote that!!!!!

kjackson83 · Post by **kjackson83** » 16 years ago

tcliffy wrote:

you mean someone actually wrote that!!!!!

Well, not exactly...

Here it is, verbatim--

"The American revolutionary was started be cause of world war between United kingdom, the great Brittain, and the England state..."

Honestly--I nearly cried. It's almost as bad as being told, "The United States and Japan annexed the Philippines to steal them from America..."