Align Students Kristi Spicer and Logan Mednick spread success through their teaching assistantships
Author: Sarah Olender
Date: 12.16.21
Teaching isn’t for everyone. Yet, in Fall 2021, 456 students stepped up to the plate to become teaching assistants (TAs) for the Khoury College of Computer Sciences. It requires patience, communication, and a strong mastery of the subject material. Behind every good student is a strong teacher, and often the best teachers are peers, or TAs, especially in Khoury College of Computer Sciences’ Align program, where everyone has a unique background.
Keith Bagley
“I look for people who are self-motivated,” Bagley said. “You have to be right there next to them and walking with them to help them answer those questions without giving them the answers.”
Bagley added, “I also look for people who are people persons. You don’t have to be an extrovert, but you have to be able to at least gauge people, where they’re at, and have conversations that are coherent, and not be so introverted that you can’t communicate topics, because that’s really important when people are looking for you to help them think through problems. You can’t sit there and say nothing, you have to be able to facilitate dialogue, and help them to overcome whatever place that they’re stuck at.”
These qualities are exactly what made Align student Kristi Spicer so successful in the role.
Spicer helped Bagley by TAing for three semesters, which was every semester she was available to TA during her time in the Align program.“I just really enjoyed connecting with the students. As a TA, you end up working more with students that struggle, I would say, than the ones that feel very confident. I enjoyed being able to turn their experiences around in a way.” Spicer said.
Kristi Spicer
TAing for CS 5001 means working with students who are just entering the program and navigating the difficulties around graduate school and learning a new discipline. This [remove realization] brings on a lot of feelings of imposter syndrome and doubt, which Spicer helped students overcome in her TA sessions.
“I like [that] when a lot of them come to you, they’re really stressed, and they don’t understand why their code isn’t working, and the program is harder than they anticipated,” Spicer said. “It’s a lot of risks they’re taking just by entering this program, especially if they’re already in the workforce, and I enjoy being able to relate to them and just help them through that process.”
Spicer credits her background in psychology as one of the reasons why she enjoys helping her peers succeed in their course. She and Professor Bagley both said that empathy helps when it comes to teaching.
Another one of Bagley’s TAs, Logan Mednick, also comes from an unconventional computer science background Before coming to Northeastern, Mednick studied sound recording technology at Ithaca College. While his undergraduate degree was focused on music, computer science was always in the back of his mind.“I couldn’t really explore [CS] until I started grad school,” Mednick said.
Logan Mednick
Align was the perfect way to explore his interest, and Mednick shined in his classes. One class Mednick particularly excelled in was Bagley’s, and so Bagley recognized Mednick’s name when he came across it while reviewing TA applications.
“Fortunately, I already taught [Logan and Kristi] in the program and so I knew their background, I knew how conscientious they were in terms of doing the work and their intelligence as well. I picked them out of that bunch because of my experience with them,” Bagley said. “I tend to try to have role models like them. So for the Align bridge, I often, if not always, pick from former Aligners because they have a unique perspective of having been through the program, they know the challenges of not having a CS background and kind of fighting through the imposter syndrome.”
Right now, Mednick is an intern at Bankers Healthcare Group, and while he loves working there, he also loves his work as a TA because of the connections he makes with his fellow students.
“I really want to have an impact on people not just in software, but in life in general,” Mednick said. “I want to be able to have some sort of positive impact in some way, and I feel as if being a TA is one way that I can do that. Even if it’s just helping a student understand what a “for loop” does, and helping them get one more question right on their final exam, I like to be able to have that small impact and to help students realize their potential as well.”
Spicer and Mednick became TAs by filling out an application on the student employment website, but it wasn’t just their stellar grades that landed them the position. It was their empathy, people skills, and articulate way of explaining complex CS terms that landed them the gig.
In September, Spicer was offered a full-time software engineering job at DraftKings that she has started while she finishes her last two classes, and Mednick’s internship has been extended too. As the two begin the next steps in their computer science careers, it’s time for the next generation of Khoury College TAs to rise up to the occasion.
“Think of [the TA job] as a learning opportunity for yourself. It’s something to put on your resume, yeah, but also have the heart of paying it forward or paying it backward, whichever way you’re looking,” Bagley said. “This is more of a calling than just a job.”