The bigger the class, the more likely you are to have a TA at Bama. That’s why I was super confused on the first day of school this past semester when I had a TA in class of only 25 students. Don’t get me wrong, I had no complaints; he was smokin’ hot. I won’t divulge his name for the sake of privacy, so his pseudonym will be “Sandor.” But, you make ask, “Why Sandor?” Sandor “The Hound” Clegane is my favorite character on Game of Thrones, and he was my favorite TA. Makes sense, right?
Anyways, I’m spending my summer in Tuscaloosa taking a few classes and interning at the local TV station. Apparently, he is too. A few weeks ago, I went to the liquor store before a good old-fashioned night of Tom foolery with my gal pals. On my way out, while carrying gallons of cheap vodka, Sandor walked in. He held the door for me and we made medium-awkward small talk for approximately 10 seconds. Who wants to be my maid-of-honor?
The Meeting
Little did I know, we were headed to the same T-Town bar, “The Bear Trap.” A classic T-Town bar staple. Notice how I said “classic,” not “classy.”
Sandor and I locked eyes from across the room. It was more maximum-awkward this time because at this point, we were both drunk. Normally I don’t care what people think of me when I’m out, but seeing my TA was a little different. Particularly, because of the type of class I took with him.
This class was designed specifically to help you gain better studying and organizational skills as a student. I’d had a rough semester prior to this one and decided I needed some additional help. One time in class, my professor asked me if I could give any advice to the younger classmates and I said, “Try not to get too lit on a Tuesday.” Yet there I was, getting lit on a Tuesday.
After a few more awkward eye meetings, he approached me and ended up buying my friends and me shots in a super non-creepy/non-romantic way. At first I thought it was kinda weird, but it actually did diffuse the tension a lot.
I was pretty shocked at how chill Sandor was in a casual setting, considering he’d jipped me on a few papers and marked me late when I was clearly having a bad day. I was now taking shots with him. Turns out, TAs are people, too.