Teaching assistants: the unsung heroes of higher education. On paper, TAs are supposed to work under the professor’s supervision in order to give students additional attention and instruction. In reality, they mostly do all the things that professor doesn’t want to do, plus their own coursework. So, what is that frazzled TA really thinking during your Intro to Greek Philosophy lecture? Well, these “scandalous” Whisper confessions may give you an idea.
If you haven’t heard of it before, Whisper bills itself as “the best place to discover secrets around you.” Launched in 2012, the app now has about ten million active users.
“When you open the app, you see six such images. Each one has a ‘secret’ on it,” explains Alexis Madrigal of The Atlantic. “You can respond to a message publicly or privately, choosing a public anonymous post or a private pseudonymous chat. Users don’t have a public identity in the app. While they do have persistent handles, there’s no way to contact them except through the messages they post.”
Basically, the anonymity gives people the kind of free reign to express themselves that, until the rise of the internet, had been previously limited to the scribblings on truck stop bathroom stalls—but, more interactive and less creepy.
Anyway, here are some of the best confessions from a few TA’s:
Whisper
If there was ever an incentive to proofread that paper because handing it in, this is it.
Whisper
Whisper
Ouch. Though, I bet they have great marks in “class participation.”
Whisper
Again, ouch.
Whisper
“:/” indeed.
Whisper
Whisper
Of course, it’s not all that bad:
Whisper
Whisper
And, then there’s this gem:
Whisper
If anyone in the class does figure out, that should be worth some extra credit.
This Website Reveals What Your TA is Actually Thinking & Spoiler: They Kind of Hate You
