A Fish Out of Water: A Seasoned Professor from a Small Private University Discusses her First Experience as a Teaching Assistant at a Large State University

The following article describes the teaching experience of a teaching assistant and PhD student at the University of XXX. The student is an associate professor at a small private college with no prior experience at a state university. The student teaches with a great breadth of latitude at the private college and does not have that same latitude in the role of a teaching assistant. She learns the meaning of the word ombud as well as other lessons from the chairs of the BSW and Doctoral programs. Additionally, she grows as an educator as she experiences more diversity in the classroom than she has in the past.