Signals and Systems Lab TA

Teaching 120+ students weekly about signals, systems, and why their oscilloscope isn't lying to them — it's just showing them something they don't want to see.

The Story

I took this role because I wanted to understand the material better. The best way to learn something is to teach it, right? What I didn't expect was how much I'd learn about *people* — how different minds approach the same problem, and how explaining something five different ways makes you understand it five times better.

The real challenge isn't the technical content. It's helping a student who's convinced they broke the equipment realize that the "broken" output is actually correct — they just asked the wrong question. That moment when it clicks? That's the good stuff.

What I've Learned

• Patience is a skill, and like any skill, it gets better with practice
• The way you frame a question changes everything about the answer
• Real-time debugging (someone else's code, under pressure) builds a different kind of expertise
• Teaching forces you to confront the gaps in your own understanding

Responsibilities

• Demonstrated laboratory procedures using signal generators, oscilloscopes, and MATLAB to analyze LTI systems
• Instructed over 120 students weekly and assisted in circuit, software, and instrument issues during lab sessions
• Supported student troubleshooting and reinforced core signals concepts under real lab constraints