Huddled below Tichenor Hall, in the back halls of the basement, you can find a group of teachers on hard at work. However, these teachers are not your average college teachers, they're also students.
The day of a graduate teaching assistant is one filled with plenty of time for work and little time for play. Sarah Anne Adamson's, a graduate teaching assistant for Communication 1000, or Public Speaking, day begins early and often with frustration because of the lack of on campus parking.
Adamson, whose first class begins at 8 a.m., said Auburn Parking Services do not give graduate students parking decals, leaving them with the same frustration as undergraduate students.
"We don't get parking decals, so we have to walk and have just as many parking problems as students even though we are teaching the classes," Adamson said.
Once Adamson arrives on campus, she teaches public speaking at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. in the same room in Lowder Hall before a break at 10 a.m.
Adamson calls this hour the coffee hour, since she uses to refuel with coffee from Starbucks for the class she teaches at 11 a.m.
Adamson's responsibilities as a graduate teaching assistant include setting up the lectures for the day, getting the classroom in order and pulling up whatever visual aids are necessary.
Adamson plays music before her classes to lighten the mood as she finds pre-class time to be awkward for everyone in class.
"It's just really awkward when its silent and everyone is really trying to not make eye contact with you, and I'm just standing there by myself," Adamson said.
Following the conclusion of their classes, Adamson and the other TAs meet in a room in Tichenor Hall to host their office hours, which typically last from 12-4 p.m. During this time, they either do work for their nighttime classes or help students who come for help.
This time is also used to have a little bit of fun. Adamson admitted that the TAs often have sing-alongs during their office hours.
"We are a weird group of people," Adamson said jokingly. "We usually tell students that the best way to find us is to go to the basement of Tichenor and listen for us because we have to leave the door open and we're normally really loud, but it can be fun."
Students can find office hours to be intimidating when they walk into a room filled with older people Adamson said, which is why they try and keep the mood relaxed.
After the conclusion of the office hours, the TAs for the School of Communication and Journalism prepare for their evening classes, which begin at 4 p.m. and last until 5:30 or 8 p.m., depending on the circumstances.
"So it makes for a long day," Adamson said. "Some days I'm on campus from 8 a.m. or maybe a little earlier to 8 p.m. That is 12 hours so it obviously can be exhausting."
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