Functions are...

Pointers! After eight semesters of painting the catch-phrase on the Fence, printing it on stickers, and dramatically writing it across whiteboards, yes, I believe that functions are pointers. It's just a part of being a 15-122 TA. But whether you believe Functions are Pointers, or Values, Sets, Functions, Relations, Secure, Data, Learned, or have no idea what I am talking about, I would like to declare one more:

Functions are Commitments.

And not just the Git kind, though that is certainly part of it. Small, consistent, and sometimes chaotic changes (like the ones that just say "WIP" ten times in a row) can eventually merge into something impactful.

Looking back, it was time commitment – to students and to the course – that made the TA experience meaningful.

Every bit of time invested in students, whether direct or behind the scenes, made a difference. We often encourage students to become TAs because teaching reinforces your fundamentals, but that does not happen instantly. It is built through hours spent reworking homeworks before office hours, prepping recitations by crafting "trick" questions, or finding weird but memorable analogies to explain a concept. Nothing beats the satisfying moment when a student asks the exact trick question I prepped for the night before – and if not, well, it never hurts to leave the question as an "exercise to the reader." Sometimes, a small commitment meant staying a few minutes after recitation to clarify a solution, even if it made me a little late to a meeting. Teaching is not just about explaining concepts; it is about encouraging students to ask, think, and trust.

Teaching an intro course is special because we meet a lot of students early in their CS journey. For TAs who stay for several semesters, we step into the "old but wise" role by offering advice to support their interests. Having gone through much of the CS curriculum ourselves, we know that those interested in the C standard would love 213, those fascinated by C0 syntax should try Compilers, and those wanting to conquer amortized analysis may look forward to 451. Over time, I realized how TA-student relationships help define the culture of SCS: many of us have once asked a TA for advice, and many of us later became that TA for someone else.

Commitment goes beyond working directly with students and includes investing time in the course itself. Even from the start, TAs can contribute to the course by rewriting a homework problem or fixing a small typo. I encourage TAs, especially newer ones, to be proactive and bring their fresh ideas for improving the course. At the same time, staying for multiple semesters builds a broader perspective: you start spotting longer-term patterns in how students struggle on particular concepts, where infrastructure falls short, and what new approaches are needed. For example, after noticing shifts in post-COVID office hours usage, part of our staff developed a new OH queue platform better suited to the course's needs. Our recent major course redesign, which involved restructuring our recitations and approach to exams, was driven by TAs who noticed how students' engagement with assignments and participation with course resources had evolved. While the final proposal felt sudden, it was built on observations stacked over time, shaped by both fresh insights and accumulated experience, voiced and executed by proactive TAs.

Staff relationships also take time to establish. As a head TA for a few semesters, part of the responsibility was to maintain a consistent, correct, and professional staff environment. How do we build rapport among TAs? How do we encourage them to actively participate?

Small, consistent traditions made the difference, such as bringing donuts to the last recitation, karaoke nights, Cheesecake & Sardines night, and Jet Lag watch parties. These social events helped build a healthy staff culture that influenced our teaching rapport, our grading attitudes, and our mutual support during office hours, which in turn impacted students' overall experiences.

Functions are commitments – time commitments. Staying involved for so many semesters allowed me to develop richer ways to teach the course material, contribute to infrastructure, and help establish staff traditions. While some might think it is boring or repetitive to teach the same content over and over, I believe that the long-term commitment enabled me to observe and contribute to significant parts of the course's content and infrastructure.

Thank you to Iliano, Anne, and Dilsun for believing in me early on, motivating much of my teaching journey, and guiding the course culture that we get to build on. Thank you to everyone I had the chance to TA with. I chose to stay largely because of the staff. It is no coincidence that almost all of my close friends from CMU were once, or still are, 15-122 TAs. Perhaps it is a little crazy...or maybe it is just the natural result of shared commitments.