I remember the day I first started tutoring. It was shortly after I got Champ, fresh into high school and I was asked by Mr. Burton (my grade 9 math teacher) to help another student with a math problem. That one student turned into a group of students and pretty soon, I realized I had a whole crowd of people surrounding me which eventually turned into "math club." I didn't realize my actions were considered tutoring at the time, and I also didn't realize I quite enjoyed it. Someone your own age explaining a concept to you in terms that you understand, and using analogies and examples that were relevant to the teenage mind, was quite astounding. Now, 10 years later, I've decided to turn that passion into a career.
I've always had a preference for numbers. My mom started teaching me my times tables before I entered preschool. She told me that I loved numbers and somehow they just seemed to click in my mind. However, I didn't always agree with her because I thought she was just giving me praise since I was her daughter. Looking back, I found that I naturally remembered people's birthdays, had a sixth sense for time, and can perform mental calculations with ease. I really wish I capitalized on this passion of mine when I was in high school and when choosing university programs. Like many children of immigrant families, my parents had high expectations for me and urged me to pursue a career in the sciences. Growing up, I also thought that this was my passion once upon a time. It was only until after undergraduate that I realized I was not a huge fan of science, in particular, biology due to its heavy reliance on memorization. However, I was told that since I was good at memorization, I would prefer courses that contain heavy memorization but coming out of university with a Bachelor of Sciences, I realized this was not my true purpose and passion in life. Being good at something is futile if one does not use that knowledge to benefit the world. As humans, we are social beings who have an innate sense of belonging. We pass on our knowledge, either though writings or oral traditions or any other medium and through that cycle, we continue to develop and thrive as a culture of beings who are intellectually superior in this universe. I believe that anyone can speak to another person, but explaining to someone causing them to internalize and understand the information is a special trait. If we keep all our knowledge to ourselves, then the world will not grow. The world will not benefit and eventually society will remain stagnant, ultimately leading to our demise. It is with these thoughts in mind that I became a peer tutor in university and entered Liberty Tutoring as an in-person tutor and nowadays, online tutor for math and sciences from grades 6-12. Through these years, I've witnessed curriculum changes along with pedagogical changes, but the one factor that always remained the same, was the mentality that students and parents share. Some students want that 100%, while other students are content with a pass. Some desire versality and will only turn in work that is interesting to them. Regardless of the student, working at Liberty for the past 4 years has taught me that every student is unique and thus lesson plans should also be unique. Although I do acknowledge that being a one-on-one tutor is very different than teaching a whole class since I have to divide my attention to everyone and cannot solely focus on one student, I believe the overarching goal of teaching is the same; to help our students become positive contributors of society. Whether this means helping them find their passion, or showing them a concept in a way they never thought of before, I need to keep this goal in mind while teaching. Regardless if the class goes on a tangent, or we run behind schedule, when the students leave my classroom, I don't want them just to remember polynomial division, but rather why they learned that today and how the underlying goals of teaching can help them in the future. If I could translate my passion for math and chemistry into a language that speaks to the individual student so that they can also share my passions, then that's a mission accomplished.
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AuthorHi! Thanks for taking the time to read about my journey. I hope you can take something from my experiences and share yours in return. Don't be shy! Archives
September 2021
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