Sharing My Lessons
Recently, the registration window opened up for next semester. When my time arrived, I rapidly enrolled in my courses, in part because I have pretty much mapped out what I want to take and when, though I have to make adjustments. For instance, there's a strong possibility that I may only take one course over the summer, as my program may only have courses that I have already taken or ones not needed for this degree.
However, during my time here, I've become friendly with several students that have advising professors that aren't like my major professor: the first time we met, she questioned why I was taking that semester's courses so early in the program, with one before taking the course I have with her this semester. Now that I'm nearly done with the class, I really wish I had known her class would have made a large chunk of the work in that class easier!
It is important for me to share the wisdom gained through these experiences, so when two classmates approached me in the past two weeks to ask 'can I get some help?', I was sure to tell them the importance of the sequence of courses that I didn't know! I TA a class that one is enrolled in and tonight, after class, she came to me with her course of study and asked for insight on which courses to take over the summer. She is not a US resident, so she will be back in her home country for a portion of that semester and choosing wisely is especially important when you have a completely different time schedule.
We talked about what to take and why, and it felt good to have the answers she needed, or at least a rationale to back up one of her selections that I have not taken yet. As it stands right now, it appears that we will be taking the same two classes in the fall. I'm looking forward to it, because it will give me the opportunity to repay the favor of asking for her advice on how to best prepare for the class she completed before I enroll in it.
To me, it's a huge compliment when someone asks for input, so to be able to do the same is pretty cool.
However, during my time here, I've become friendly with several students that have advising professors that aren't like my major professor: the first time we met, she questioned why I was taking that semester's courses so early in the program, with one before taking the course I have with her this semester. Now that I'm nearly done with the class, I really wish I had known her class would have made a large chunk of the work in that class easier!
It is important for me to share the wisdom gained through these experiences, so when two classmates approached me in the past two weeks to ask 'can I get some help?', I was sure to tell them the importance of the sequence of courses that I didn't know! I TA a class that one is enrolled in and tonight, after class, she came to me with her course of study and asked for insight on which courses to take over the summer. She is not a US resident, so she will be back in her home country for a portion of that semester and choosing wisely is especially important when you have a completely different time schedule.
We talked about what to take and why, and it felt good to have the answers she needed, or at least a rationale to back up one of her selections that I have not taken yet. As it stands right now, it appears that we will be taking the same two classes in the fall. I'm looking forward to it, because it will give me the opportunity to repay the favor of asking for her advice on how to best prepare for the class she completed before I enroll in it.
To me, it's a huge compliment when someone asks for input, so to be able to do the same is pretty cool.
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