Head of What?

I am briefly bringing my nose out of my notes this week for something other than the always great IM conversations with la Ardilla
Our beautiful, talented, and always-right (even when she's wrong) graduate secretary called down to the bull pen, and after brief conversations with some of my cohorts I was asked to the phone.
"So, we were wondering if next semester you want to be a head TA for one of the emeritus professors?"
My educated, poetic, and literate response after years of wallet-gouging higher education was: "Huh?"

Let me back-track. The department has for the past two years been implementing this "head TA" position. This basically means that one TA is supposed to better facilitate communication between the professor and the other TA's, and do whatever thing the professor doesn't want to do at that moment (copying papers, retyping exam questions, etc.). But instead of teaching three discussion sections, with about 20 to 28 kids each, you only teach two. Fewer lesson plans, fewer office hours, fewer interruptions (at least by the undergrads).
On top of that, once you've been a head TA, you're closer to that elusive dream of teaching your own upper level course (oh Labor Economics... you and I were meant to be... why must you be so far away?) Plus... if I "take one for the team", when the qualifier semester rolls around, I might even be able to ask our INCREDIBLY INTELLIGENT AND SUPERIOR IN EVERY WAY TO ANY OTHER SECRETARY IN ANY DEPARTMENT ON CAMPUS EVER*, for a favor: less work so I can study. Plus I can write "head TA" on my resume. It sounds so impressive.

So I took it.

Now for the catch. Head TA work can range from the hair-pulling-ly f-bomb droping-ly frustrated (as was witnessed by one of our first year head TA's during her mini-nervous-breakdown a week ago in the bull pen) to less work than the other TA's (as my head TA got to experience THIS semester... jerk). It all depends on your professor (and there are a few professors that when the secretary calls, they get immediate "no thanks" responses from the grad students).
The professor I'm assigned to is an older gentleman, and very popular with the undergrads. Sweet. However, the stories among the grad students range from the terrifying to the sublime. I guess it depends on what you like.
Would you consider the professor calling you at 9 PM, with an illness (the guy is older, these things happen), asking you to fill in for him for lecture. In front of 400+ students. A couple of the TA's I talked to said this was the most horrifying experience ever (one girl actually gave the entire lecture from a back room, and had the lab techs project the notes on the screens for her), and another said it was the day he realized he loved teaching (but he also agreed with the "most horrifying" aspect).
I've taught 28 kids. I've done 7 kids, with four of them thinking they can chat all hour. I have never done a lecture hall. But uh... I'm kind of looking forward to it. The worst that could happen is I crash and burn for one day, he comes back for the next lecture, and all is good.

Again I should mention that our benign angel of mercy graduate secretary has agreed to discuss with me the amount of work we can divvy up (seriously, this poor guy can't work the copier, so there's going to quite a bit of busy work), and she gave me the e-mail of his current head-TA who's supposed to sit down with me and let me know what to do and what not to do.

This does however also mean I have to get certified for the Blackboard program. Well there go 2 hours of my life.

Right... back to studying.

* It always behooves the graduate student to be complimentary, exceedingly nice, and generous with the graduate secretaries. Because they can either make your years extremely pleasant, or unbearably painful. Not kidding. Be kind to the grad secretaries. Plus they put up with enough junk from the undergraduates.