Feeling Loved

This semester I have a job. Yep, a job. This is the first time that I have worked while going to school at BYU. For the longest time I didn't want to work while doing school because I was afraid that it would hurt my grades. But I decided to get a job this semester because I thought it would be good work experience, and because I need the money.
So I work in the Physics 106/123/220 TA lab. I sit in a room full of tables and whiteboards and wait for students to need help with their homework. The room has no windows, and is a random L shape. It really isn't that cool of a room. But I am happy out of my mind whenever I'm there.
Today I was wandering around waiting for someone to ask me a question, wearing a huge (big size fits all) ugly green vest and a name tag, when another TA called me over to a student. He was protesting loudly, "I really can explain this!!" Her response was priceless, "Yeah, but I just get it when she explains it. I like it when she helps me." The muscles in my face got all sorts of excited, pulling my mouth into a big grin, and pulling my eyes all wrinkly and small. What the love of a student can do for a TA. This girl actually sent away another TA that tried to help her because she preferred me. She learns best from me.
This would be super exciting by itself, but she isn't the only one. I feel like I'm tooting my own horn, but I don't think anyone else is stepping up (well, besides the students, I guess) to blow it, so I will anyway. I have had other students who stop putting up their stick when they have a question (that is the system. They put a colored stick corresponding to their class in a holder on the table to get help) and just wait for me to look their direction or walk past to snag my help so another TA won't come over. Or I will help them with one problem, and they try to keep me to help them with every problem. Or they will try to keep me to help them study for their test - review everything with them. Obviously I can't just stay with one student for a long time without neglecting the other students, but sometimes I get trapped by my own enthusiasm.
Today a student wanted me to help him with a problem. Fairly soon he was asking all sorts of questions totally unrelated to the problem on hand - everything that ever really bothered him in physics. Because what a lot of physics teachers/professors don't admit is that sometimes what they teach you in class goes against what you experience in real life. And sometimes students get tired of just having faith in what they don't actually believe because it doesn't feel true. Because the thing is that real life isn't as simple as what we like to pretend it is in physics. I'll admit it. Air resistance and flow (not to mention viscosity of air), friction, variations in gravity, non linear effects, and non elastic collisions all exist. It's true. And beyond that there is so much more. Anyway, the point is that I think I changed his life. It was so cool. This guy was just venting to me about how he believed that air was there and that it had weight, but it actually doesn't fall, so the gravity isn't really doing anything on it after all because he knew I would listen to his questions and actually try to answer them.
When he had fully vented and was satisfied (for now) with my answers, I looked at the clock and realized that I had stayed 20 minutes after I was supposed to be off. Oops. He felt terrible, but I smiled and explained, "I love my job. I feel like a total nerd, but I love my job." A couple students looked up and smiled (chuckled even), but I smiled bigger then any of them.
And when another student (another of my regulars) stopped me on my way out the door for one last question even though I wasn't wearing a vest or name tag anymore, I couldn't help but stop and help him.
And as I skipped home, half an hour late and absolutely happy, I knew I was in the right major.