Grace Jimenez

The most important thing I do is try to understand their personality and try to engage with them accordingly. Depending on their personality, like if they feel more talkative or more reserved, I will try to match my personality with them to make them feel as comfortable as possible. 

I have worked for Santa Monica College's STEM program for about a year and a half, I am also PART of the STEM program as a student as well. I'm pursuing an Environmental Engineering degree, and through the classes I've taken, I've been able to gain experience in not only the academic field of STEM but the professional side as well. 

I charge $20/ hour for math levels Pre-Calc and below. $25 for College level Chemistry and Calculus. 

I got started teaching when I was in between jobs and originally, I assumed I wouldn't be the best, due to my own troubles learning in these rigorous STEM classes. I have suffered from chronic anxiety all my life and it became hard to focus in school. Once I got that job to tutor, I saw myself in these students and I was able to mentor them and just let them know that it was ok to not understand something, or to take longer than the average person to get it. What only mattered was them and the faith and determination within themselves to succeed. 

I have worked with many diverse students. Some might just needed quick explanations on certain topics and some needed multiple days of constant studying to prepare for their next exam. As far as personality, I've dealt with students who begin to understand easily and some who need more time to grasp certain concepts and both types of students are no less than the other. 

I once tutored a person for calculus and they had an extremely hard time understanding the material. We were able to work together for many days and I was worried that they might not be ready for the exam. However, they came to me after they got their grades back, and turns out that they actually got an A! I was so proud of them and myself, because that was when I was able to have the confidence in myself to help others. 

The advice I would give to students is to understand that a teacher is still human. They still have the same emotions you do, and they are able to empathize with your situation as much as you are able to. Don't be afraid for not knowing something. 

I believe students should think about the length of their question. If they are having trouble from just getting a problem started, gather those questions seperately from the shorter questions, that way, you can make full use of tutoring time.