Growing up I was fortunate enough to attend a small elementary school located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. This intimate setting fostered my interest in and love for the sciences. Tucked in the hills we were able to engage with the surrounding forest and water systems during a program affectionately titled “Junior Naturalists”. Through this we learned not only about the intricacies of each individual species, but also how they interacted as a system, all cultivated in an environment that allowed and encouraged my imagination to mingle with academia. This resulted in my learning approach being to dissect big picture questions and ideas into individual working parts.

My earliest experience with teaching did not start out in an academic setting; I first began with instructing piano and tennis. Many of the tennis students I worked with had some sort of developmental or learning difference and I believe they are much of the reason why I learned to become a better academic tutor. I believe that too often in larger educational settings, and especially with how our education system is currently set up, that we prescribe to a “one size fits all” mentality. I learned from my tennis students that every single individual learns and processes information in different ways and that it is incredibly important to understand, appreciate, and cater to these differences.

Too often in middle and high school I was seeing my classmates fall behind in classes because the way they processed information was not the same way teachers were presenting it. This, unfortunately, led to some of my peers either not developing an interest in certain subject matter that they deemed too difficult, or led them to become disheartened and lose interest and confidence in subjects they were previously excited about. As someone who is a complete (and proud) nerd I decided that academic tutoring was a great way for me to try and share my love of the STEM field with others while also being able to cater to individuals through one-on-one tutoring.

This affinity for helping students grasp information they were previously struggling with followed me to Lewis & Clark College where I earned my BA in biology, concentrated in chemistry and neuroscience. It continued to follow me to Columbia University where I earned my Masters in Public Health in May 2022. Going to a small liberal arts school further solidified my opinion that teaching is most effective when students are able to work in settings where they have more direct access to their instructors and where their instructors are able to take the time to truly care about each student. My work in the field of public health has continued to show me just how important education is in shaping our mental and physical health as well as our life path.

I believe that teaching is most effective when it is personalized to each individual’s learning style and goals, when it imparts knowledge about various study and organizational skills that can be applied to all subjects, and when it instills within the student confidence in themselves and understanding the importance of holding a growth mindset. When all of these aspects are kept in mind they can culminate to make students not only perform well on the immediate subjects at hand, but also turn them into lifelong learners.

Drop me a note about the subject you would like some help to further master.