Application Essay: A Career As A Teaching Assistant

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I always have been passionate about delving into the fundamental explanations for mathematical concepts.
In high school, my curiosity led me to teach myself calculus. In college, I furthered my understanding by taking a year-long advanced calculus/real analysis course. I spent hours with my classmates discussing proofs and pointing out flaws in each other’s arguments until we agreed it was rigorous. Around the same time, I took classes on complexity, algorithms and probability theory, which gave me a well-rounded introduction to theoretical computer science. I enjoyed the depth of concepts pursued in theory, even from undergraduate courses, and knew that theoretical computer science is my area of interest.

I was fortunate to have access to great research opportunities and advanced classes in theoretical computer science as well as to take advantage of great theory culture at University of Washington. I did research under Professor James Lee on randomized algorithms and spectral graph theory. I took advanced classes on randomized algorithms and approximation algorithms. After seeing the potential and applications of probabilistic …show more content…

I think of teaching as a process of presenting ways of thinking rather than just imparting facts. As a teaching assistant, I think about different possible approaches and how to explain them to the class before talking to students. When I lead review sessions, I try to let students share their thoughts and concerns and to show the motivation behind solutions. Being a teaching assistant for various undergraduate classes has shown me that teaching is a mutually beneficial process: in one way, I can help students with their studies; in another, hearing their perspectives has made me understand the class materials better. These experiences have informed my belief that talking to people interested in theory and doing research with them will be an enlightening experience benefitting both me and

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