Staff:BRI

TA Mike

Michael Wood was a TA for Principles of Engineering and Design A in 2018. In the previous year he worked as an RA at Haverford. He currently goes to UVA and majors in Computer Science. He attended two years at Lancaster as a student and would talk about his experience. During the first half of the session, Mike sat in the corner of the class looking at different Fit bits. After purchasing the new model, he flexed his new Fitbit to a couple of guys in the class. He took care of night class so well that campers Justin Quezada, Jean-Claude Lane, and Michael Zhou referred to him as an "Alpha Male." Every break, he would participate in the Four Square games. During the first week, he was so confused about why everyone kept "playing on" but later understood and went with the flow. He was in charge of selling materials to groups during the weekly projects. Before the session ended, he regretted purchasing coffee stirrers and tried to sell them for $0.05. He also would leave his station whereas Michael Zhou would steal some Popsicle sticks (sorry Mike). He was so generous that on the last day he took his students outside for an "early break" just so the students could say goodbye to the San Luis campers one last time.

Mike wasn't just an awesome teacher, he was a cool guy to be around who would always be willing to have conversations even if they weren't class-related. In addition, he helped many students overcome PCTYD as he knew what the feeling was like as well. He may have been overlooked for being a TA, however, the impact he made on his class just improved the session for them significantly. He was named the best teacher ever by some of his engineering students. Follow him on Instagram @mike.gw