The Strosacker Science Center is, for humanities students, a shadowy wasteland of labcoats, strange smells, impenetrable jargon, and bad grades. But it is also home to a close-knit community of professors, teaching assistants, and students.
The time and effort that Hillsdale science students put in together establishes an informal mentor system. Upperclassmen TAs, having experienced the trials of lower-level classes and lab work, guide younger students.
Senior Luke Bessmer said his own early experiences inform the way he approaches freshman and sophomore students now.
“I encourage questions. I asked the most questions out of anyone in my class,” Bessmer said. “It’s just who I am. I try to help them through it. I know I asked a lot of questions when I got started, and I try to make it easier for them.”
Hillsdale TAs are valuable sources of information. They also lead new members of the Strosacker collegiate community through the first woes of higher education.
As a TA, junior Kadence Ribbens said that watching students gain confidence and ability in the general chemistry lab is incredibly rewarding.
“You have a bond,” Ribbens said. “Yeah, I’ve been there. I’ve done what they’re doing. [TAs] have already been through all of it. They’re looking back. They have advice to offer.”
Besides learning from upperclassmen, freshmen and sophomores spend significant amounts of time working alongside each other, developing a strong network.
“As a humanities major, you take a lot of the same classes, but they’re all at different times,” Ribbens said. “As a biochemistry or chemistry major, you take all of the same things at pretty much the same time as everyone else in your grade. You feel all of the same stress, wade through all of the same challenges, and you end up being really close.”
Being a TA also means that you get to introduce younger students to new experiences and observe the results.
“There’s one lab where they could have made a contact explosive,” Bessmer said. “It’s a precipitated solution and, if it dries out, it can turn into an explosive. It’s fun to explain that and watch their faces.”
“People make a lot of interesting decisions in lab,” senior Matt Drogowski said. “But nobody has been hurt — at least, not in my time here.”
But being a TA is far from a one-sided experience. Drogowski said his time spent in the lab has helped prepare him for medical school.
“Everyone understands things in their own way,” Drogowski said, “and I can learn from their perspective as well as my own. It was not something I expected to do here at Hillsdale, but it was one of the best experiences I’ve had. You gain all of this knowledge and yes, it’s edifying, but it’s also great to be able to apply that knowledge and impart it to somebody else.”
