Not all university departments can afford to give their students free education. The humanities departments and professional schools (law, business and medicine) rarely give such fellowships. But in the physics department, if you are accepted by a school, you're usually guaranteed financial support.

Of course, this money doesn't really come for free. Most of the incoming students are offered what are called "teaching fellowships." That is, they earn their keep by working as assistants to the professors. This work includes teaching undergrad courses as well as doing research for a particular professor.

I, myself, am supported by organizations other than my own department. I do not have to teach or do extra research, but I am required to attend meetings and seminars sponsored by my group.

During the first week of class, all of us got together every evening from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and "rehearsed" teaching. This did not involve lectures. Instead, each of us got up in front of the other class members and solved a sample physics problem. The remaining students heckled the victim at the board and afterward gave their comments . Since we were being videotaped , we also got to see ourselves perform . Although I don't have teaching duties, I still went to the sessions , because teaching is such an important skill in itself.

Besides, it was nice to be with my classmates at this initial stage . The setting of the meetings was very casual. Refreshments were served every evening, and since we hadn't been assigned homework yet, we didn't mind (too much) having our precious evening time taken away. It was a good chance for all of us new students to get together outside the classroom. It wasn't anything like a party, but I think getting to know each other's faces was a big goal.

Getting to know names was a different issue . Only four of the incoming students are American, so roll call always took a long time. Pronouncing names such as "Alexei Trofimov" and "Qizhi Zhu" is not easy for people who are used to names like "Tom Jones." For that reason, many of the foreign students have taken on American nicknames. I admit that it's much easier for me to say "Julian" than "Qizhi," but I've never liked the idea of taking on an American name, myself. One of my friends jokingly suggested that "Martha" sounds a little like "Masa," but I'd rather have my name mispronounced "moussaka" (a Greek eggplant dish) or "miyako" than change the name I grew up with .

Being a new teacher is hard in itself, but I think one special difficulty that many of my classmates have is that their native language is not English. All of them have passed a language exam, and therefore they are able to understand their own professors, but standing in front of a room full of squirmy undergrads and trying to explain a subject like physics is very different. I could tell that many of the teaching fellows were struggling so hard with the language that they didn't even notice that we (their students) were getting restless . It's obvious that many of the teaching fellows are very good at physics. I only hope the undergrads will overlook the thick accents and focus on what the teaching fellows have to offer.

During the first couple years of grad school, students work as teaching fellows, take courses in the fundamentals of physics, and try to pinpoint their research area. After they decide on their field, they approach various professors to see if they are willing (and able) to fund them. If they are, the students can stop being teaching fellows and start focusing on their own research.

Of course, I'm not yet at that stage, but I realize that I am among students who work ― whether it is teaching or doing research ― order to study, and this is a great stimulus for me.

ST

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