<p>James Lucania, a student in the M.B.A. program, doesn?t plan on pursuing teaching as a career. He is not required to spend time as a teaching assistant, as some graduate students are, and his background is in investment banking. <br/>But Lucania said that in the two years that he has been a TA, he has gotten hooked. <br/>He now regularly checks Facebook, eager to see whether any of his students have added him to their friend lists, and is excited when he hears that former students have recommended his classes. <br/>He says he continues to be a TA simply because he likes to do it. <br/>Many graduate students, some of whom are required to, and some of whom choose to, spend time as assistant teachers. This is another item on their lists of activities, which also include studying for their own classes, writing papers, conducting research and often working. <br/>?I found out very quickly that it is impossible to do it all. ... Invariably something is going to suffer,? said Daniel Song, a doctoral student in computer science. ?You?re on your own. ... You have to work hard to build your own social life.? <br/>Many departments require graduate students to be TAs, and most of those require students to teach three classes. <br/>But some students, such as Lucania, say they decided to be TAs just because they enjoy the work. <br/>Breeyawn Ririe, a graduate student in chemistry who wants to go into industry but has not ruled out teaching, said simply that she has found being a TA to be a rewarding experience. <br/>?I like being a TA, and having this interaction with students has been great,? she said. <br/>Teaching assistants also say they see benefits to being a TA that are applicable beyond the classroom. <br/>?No matter what you do in life, you have to be able to organize the material and present it to others,? Song said. <br/>Often TAs teach subjects that are outside their areas of expertise. Sam See, an English TA, said can be an additional incentive, as it makes graduate students more well-rounded. <br/>?Being a TA increases the breadth of your experience,? he said. <br/>As an undergraduate, Chun Ly, a doctoral student in astronomy, attended the University of Arizona, where graduate students were not required to be TAs. <br/>He said he believes having TA experience can help a person develop a better teaching career in the long term. <br/>?People who don?t TA ... end up going straight from research into teaching, and I believe they struggle more,? he said. <br/>Lucania said it can actually be a benefit for students to work with TAs who have a background in the subject area they teach. <br/>?Students appreciate that we know the subject but also that we have pertinent work experience,? Lucania said. <br/>But Song also offered up another reason graduate students choose to become TAs. <br/>?I really think the vast majority of TAs need to teach for the money,? he said. <br/>Andrew Forrester, a doctoral student in physics, said teaching undergraduate survey courses help TAs review foundational knowledge in their fields. <br/>TAs are required to spend extensive hours reviewing and helping undergraduates understand material they themselves had learned years earlier. <br/>?Students who come here to get Ph.D.s are trying to learn their field very solidly ... and teaching the material is a good way to know it thoroughly,? Forrester said.</p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;