My first day as a TA....

So, this morning I had an email in my inbox letting me know that the papers I'm grading for the core philosophy class were waiting for me. That was quite possibly the absolute last thing I needed today-one more thing to do. I went over and picked them, opened the packet, and promptly had an attack of insecurity. "What the heck were these people thinking when they asked me to do this?!" kept repeating in my mind. Now there was some basis for these sudden feelings of incompetence since I am the only underclassman grading papers in the philosophy department. Everyone else is of senior standing or is a grad student. Anyway, I took some deep breaths and met with the professor I'm working for (who also happens to be one of my advisors) and he answered some of my questions which calmed me down a bit. Back in my room, I took a look at the one on top, read the first two paragraphs and laughed. That was probably the wrong reaction to a student's hard work but when I see large blocks of scripture being quoted in a philosophical paper it evokes laughter in me. It's the typical good Christian student reaction to deep questions and is entirely NOT what the professor is looking for (at least in this particular class). Suddenly I knew I was capable of at least grading this paper and I set to work. It was surprisingly enjoyable. I was a bit slow since it was my first one but I labored through and felt a little more confident at the end. The student ended up with a 70% but it's only a rough draft so I don't feel bad at all. I guess I may end up being a bit of a tough grader. :) Two of the other papers I actually know the students a little so it could be intersting to see how well they do in philosophy. So far, at least when it comes to the grading part, I think I will enjoy being a TA. Of course, there is still the part where you have to deal with the disgruntled students who want to know why you gave their brilliant piece of writing such a shockingly low grade, but thankfully that percentage is usually pretty low. Most of them don't want to see you at all! One paper down and four more to go by Monday. (Yes, I know that is a pathetically small amount, but, hey, I've never done this before.)