Teaching assistant grateful for transferable skills

Jennifer Seedu

Jennifer Seedu.

Business student Jennifer Seedu says she isn’t sure what she wants to do once she completes her BComm, but she appreciates the experience she is gaining as a teaching assistant in marketing and management courses.

“Part of me thinks I’ll go into teaching, and part of me thinks the business world,” she says. “But I do know that being a TA is great training with a lot of transferable skills whichever way I go.”

She says the role, training and empowering another person, relates to mentoring and coaching—a big part of any organizational environment. She will share her experiences with attendees at GA/TA Celebration Day, Thursday, November 29, in the CAW Student Centre. A display of her testimonial and others like it will describe the breadth of experience enjoyed by graduate and teaching assistants in programs across the campus.

Owen Eric Wood

Owen Eric Wood.

MFA candidate Owen Eric Wood is a graduate assistant in visual arts. He says that making art can be an isolating activity; being a GA provides opportunities to interact with others.

“I enjoy talking to students about their projects even when they are not students in my class,” Wood says. “Getting them to vocalize their ideas helps them understand and therefore focus their projects. One of the most rewarding parts of being a GA is when I look at the work students produce and I can see improvements that are a direct response to a conversation I had with them.”

Watch DailyNews for excerpts from more testimonials leading up to Thursday’s event.