Don't Take Them Seriously | Advice

Recently, a friend of mine was very upset when her demonstrator (the person who oversees and facilitates practicals if you're a doing a Science degree) told her that she was slow. Here's my issue: a lot of tutors*, teaching assistants and demonstrators think they are the bees knees because they are older and more academically qualified than you are. And they will often act according to this belief of theirs. Because you are doing something that they have already done, they often look down upon students.

The thing is, no one is necessarily better than you because they are older than you or more experienced in a particular field than you are. Particularly if these people are students themselves. The opinions that matter the most are those of you lecturers and professors. Ultimately, they are the ones who will mark your final exam and so on. And they most definitely have the right to comment upon your abilities as an academic.

My point: if your tutor/demonstrator/TA has something nasty to say about you...just ignore them. Don't let it get to you. They are students too. If what they are saying or how they are marking you is an issue, take it up with your lecturer (or course co-ordinator/Head of Department etc), you have the right to, you are paying them after all!

*DISCLAIMER: My argument does not apply to ALL tutors/demonstrators/TAs. I am speaking about a few in particular