Teaching as graduate student

[CAguy]

Should a graduate student take a teaching load if he/she has no obligations by the department ? and why ?

[FishNerd]

I think it depends on your goals after you finish your program. If you plan on becoming a professor or taking on some kind of teaching responsibilities at some point it may be beneficial for you to at least get a couple semester's worth of teaching experience to have on your CV.

If you do not ever plan on needing any kind of teaching experience it may not be very helpful to take on extra responsibilities you have no obligation to take on. I did not teach during my Master's program and it left me so much more time for my own research obligations.