Laura Ellermeyer, author of Tuesday’s tutoring column, could have gone to TA sessions for free to prepare for the exam. ECO 2013 has TAs available seven periods a day, five days a week. I’m not sure if practice tests were made available last semester. They usually are and are by far the best way to prepare for an exam.
Additionally, there should be no shame in asking for help. College is difficult. It’s also important. Too important for you to have to worry about embarrassment when asking for help. Whether you get help by asking a friend, visiting a professor during office hours or buying review packets, what’s really important is that you understand the material. It’s certainly better to grasp it three hours before an exam than to not have grasped it at all.
A final comment on whether TZ shouldn’t be necessary: What makes TZ so different from TA sessions? I would say you’ll be babied more in TA sessions than you are in large TZ sessions, since they offer individual attention. Should all university-sponsored tutoring be dissolved because of the moral hazard produced by providing assistance? I don’t think so. I think smart people can still ask for help.
Editor's note: This letter refers to this column.
