Personal Experience: My Career As An Undergraduate Teaching Assistant

A simple Google search of the definition of doctor reveals the following, “Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre [dɔˈkeːrɛ] 'to teach '.” As the 15th week of the semester comes to a close, I reflect on my experience as an undergraduate teaching assistant and the contribution it has made to my education. This opportunity and the experiences within and outside of the classroom have positively influenced my future as an undergraduate student pursuing a career as a doctor of medicine.

I feel that being a UTA facilitated the opportunity for me to strengthen my communication skills, understanding of basic biological concepts, and maturation as an undergraduate student. At first it was quite intimidating to approach questions by students, because I often feared my ability to answer these questions in a clear and concise way. As the semester progressed, I found myself becoming less shy and with practice I began to answer questions in a confident manner. This not only improved my working knowledge of basic biology, but also strengthened my passion for re-learning concepts and not simply memorizing information, as it is easy to do as a freshman college student. Overall, being an UTA ultimately taught me to be confident in what I know

Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” I feel that this quote encompasses my unforeseen goal as a UTA for this semester. With each in-class assignment, students would encounter multiple critical thinking questions. These questions often times were vague and challenged my students to the point of defeat—the most impactful time for me as a teaching assistant. In these moments, I took the time to stop my students and guide them not to the answer but through a thinking process that hopefully they will be able to use for the rest of their undergraduate career and