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<p>The student in this instance seems to be having a negative reaction to the teacher’s style of running the class. I thought it might be better for the student to meet with someone who has not already made an unfavorable impression.</p>
<p>Also, there’s something less intimidating about TAs because they’re closer in age to undergraduates. As a student, I preferred to talk with them rather than the professor, and when I was a TA myself, students often brought me concerns that they would never have felt comfortable discussing with the professor. (For example, a student who desperately wanted to cut class on the day of her sister’s bridal shower – which was also a day when a quiz was scheduled – came to me, and we worked out a solution to the problem. She would never have brought an issue like that to the professor.)</p>