Teacher’s Assistant juggles school, work

Day in the Life

Jonathan Taylor / contributing photographer Senior Linsey Mayhew works as the news director at WXJM 88.7 and is a teacher's assistant to Amy Paugh, assistant professor of anthropology. As TA, Mayhew answers students' questions and provides feedback.

Students at JMU have taken at least one General Education class and dealt with the large classes, group projects and exams. In some classes, students take a quiz or have some assignment due almost every time it meets, and then have to wait another week to receive the grade. Some students may even have complained that the professor should help them more. However, what many students may not realize is that these professors often do have help — in the form of a teacher’s assistant.

Senior Linsey Mayhew is one of these helpers. Mayhew is a full-time student with a busy schedule and social life, just like a lot of the students for which she is a TA. Not only must she attend her own classes, she also must attend the class in which she assists.

According to Amy Paugh, assistant professor of anthropology, having a TA is very beneficial. "As a TA, Mayhew holds office hours with students, [leads] exam study sessions and records participation in class exercises, as well as providing me with feedback on class lectures, relaying student comments or concerns and some limited grading,"Paugh said.

When a student can’t make it to Mayhew’s office hours, she meets them before class starts to allow them to copy notes or ask questions. "I have class during her office hours and so I met her once before class to get notes," freshman Katrina Smith said. "It’s good to have someone reliable."

Some days, Mayhew is on campus from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., when the library closes for the night. "Between the readings, attending classes, office hours and grading papers, I spend approximately eight hours fulfilling requirements for the TA position alone," Mayhew said. "No breaks for me!"

Paugh is very pleased with Mayhew’s work as her TA. "She’s intelligent, energetic, articulate, open-minded and involved," Paugh said. "I don’t think she gets much sleep, but she is definitely a great TA, student _and concerned citizen."

Mayhew’s plate is jam-packed with being a TA and a full-time student, but she also is the news director at WXJM 88.7, as well as the president of the JMU chapter of the International Justice Mission. Between classes, Mayhew can sometimes be found on the commons passing out flyers, hanging up posters or asking students to sign petitions.

"Linsey not only satisfies all my requirements as a TA, she is also a very kind and concerned person who is very active in a number of organizations and activist groups," Paugh said. "She continually brings new issues to my awareness that I can then share with students. I’m very pleased to have had the chance to get to know Linsey, both in and out of the classroom."

Mayhew will wake tomorrow morning, sit down for a quick breakfast and coffee and head off to campus to do it all again, because when she graduates in May, she will no longer be the TA, but the teacher. "It is too bad public primary schools usually do not provide teaching assistants, because I would love one of my own next year!" Mayhew said.