How did you get interested in your field of study?
My exposure to the concept of polymorphism during a pharmaceutics lecture I attended as an undergraduate student brought me to this field of study. He mentioned that even chocolate has polymorphs, and I was immediately captivated by the discussion of how chocolate's structure changes. He explained that the differences in texture resulting from melting and solidification, as well as the whitening, are due to the varying melting points and stability of its polymorphs. This phenomenon is not about the chocolate, but it applies to drugs as well. This is how I got interested in the physicochemical properties of substances.
What did you find most beneficial in SCLA 620?
In this course, you receive a lot of feedback from instructors, peers, and undergraduate students. This is one of the most beneficial aspects of this course for me. As a grad student, you would have many opportunities of giving presentation communicate in English, but you won't have many opportunities to get feedback about your pertormance. Reviewing feedback helped me a lot to realize the weak points and to improve in the next presentation.
What specific language, communication, and presentation skills did you improve on in SCLA 620?
I become better at getting engagement from the audience through asking comprehensive questions during the presentation or by giving examples for them to easily understand the difficult concepts. These skills are especially important when you give a talk about high-level research or technical terms.
What aspects of communicating with undergraduate students in SCLA 620 did you find helpful and why?
Having opportunities to have casual conversations with undergraduate students helped us relieve the pressure to teach them and become more confident as TAs.
Would you recommend SCLA 620 for incoming international student TAs? Why?
Yes, I would recommend 620 to incoming international student TAs. In this course, you receive not only the instructions regarding pronunciation and presentations but also have opportunities to interact with peers from different fields of study and undergrad students.