Jacking Up Your Grade

When sitting down the first time with a new student, I first like to get an idea of where the student stands in the subject area. I ask guiding questions about coursework, curriculum, and rigor, and I determine what type of learning style the student prefers. After getting an idea of my students' preferences and needs, I will do some sample tutoring and practice to verify my style fits the student. I'm always flexible to the student, and my priority is assuring that tutoring will benefit them.

I am a current undergraduate at the University of Chicago studying Chemistry with a minor in Physics. Despite my specialization in Chemistry and Physics, I have an extensive liberal arts education background, being well-versed in the humanities and social sciences in academia with corresponding college-level essay writing experience.

As a current undergraduate, I have taken courses that reflect undergraduate-to-graduate level familiarity in chemistry (general, organic, and inorganic), mathematics (calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and fundamentals of mathematics in quantum mechanics), physics (classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics), religious studies, philosophy, and French. 

Though having an extensive background in college-level coursework, I am familiar with AP and IB level coursework from my high school education which makes me a valuable asset for tutoring those classes. All my courses in high school were honors or college-equivalent classes. I took the advanced placement (AP) Human Geography, Statistics, European History, Chemistry, Physics, World History, United States History, Microeconomics, English Language, and French Language classes, passing all with a 4 or higher. 

I am considered biliterate in French and English; English is my first language, and I have taken the Dîplome d'études en langue française (DELF) administered by the French government to certify my proficiency. Though not fluent, I have taken up to level 7 in French, equivalent to undergraduate requirements for French study. 

I offer a variety of services, which include tutoring, teaching lessons, and essay writing/proofreading. Prices vary depending on the type of service, content level, and length of tutoring:

Tutoring - sitting down with students to guide them through classwork and review topics as they arrive. $30 first hour, $10 for every 15 min that follows. AP, IB, and college-level classes are $45/hour.

Lessons - one-on-one lectures and activities that I have prepared in the subject area of need. $70/lesson (this cost reflects not only the in-person lesson, which is approx. 1-2 hr but the necessary planning).

Essay Proofreading - I review the grammar, content, and message of essays, suggesting corrections and revisions. $8/page.

I began teaching, not academically, rather as a horseback instructor at Camp Woodmont in North Georgia and Lost Mountain Stables in Kennesaw. Since beginning in 2017, I have spent over 2000 hours instructing horseback lessons in events as lax as trail rides to racing lessons. 

As I elevated through high school and became an upperclassman, I was offered membership to many of the honor societies in my school. Principally through our Math and French Honor Societies, I spent at least two hours a week tutoring struggling students at my school at a variety of levels.

As I've transitioned into a college environment, I have continued refining my skills as a tutor. I worked for two years as a core tutor at the University of Chicago, helping students through the course material in our core courses here in the college. Entering my next year of college, I will be a teaching assistant in Organic Chemistry.

I work with students from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of skillsets. Through the core tutors program at UChicago, I have often been required to teach French and Mathematics to chronically struggling students who are covering topics that I have not encountered on a daily basis for some time in my course load. On the other hand, I equally tutor and teach my peers or students in honors and graduate-level courses who like tutoring as a means to reinforce the knowledge that they're already comfortable with. These students are learning content I have only recently or are simultaneously learning at the same rigor and I am pushed to learn more myself to be able to accommodate them.

Though I tutor students in elementary and middle school, I do so less frequently; however, my experience with them is not unfounded. The vast majority of my past students at horseback lessons have been in elementary or middle school, and I am familiar with discussing and demonstrating concepts to them. Moreover, at Camp Woodmont where I have worked the past three summers, I have been pressed to learn not only how to teach but how to counsel children. There, I have helped kids with familial issues, bullying, and last summer dozens with craniofacial disabilities.

An even that was very fond to me was my admission to the University of Chicago in the fall of 2019. I have always prided myself on being a high-achieving and envelope-pushing student in my school's community and around the world; being accepted reaffirmed my purpose. To be accepted, not only did I have to demonstrate to the university my academic through and extracurricular talent through my myriad of club activities, but I had to show solutions through creativity. I spent months writing fantastical and bizarre essays about topics as obscure as unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks at Olive Garden, being crushed by a horse, and a comparison between ghosts and my desire to study quantum physics. At the end of the day, I am most enthused by this recent event, not because of its potential to give me an enjoyable college experience, but because I hope that with the assets there, I can advance our world and make it better for everyone else.

In any of the areas I teach, I always suggest to students to make a list of things they want to improve on. If I see a student struggling, I recognize that most of them want to improve and understand better, perhaps even just pass a class. However, these goals become difficult when students don't have a recognition of the smaller steps to reach that goal. Before attempting any goal, academic or not, I recommend students taking a moment to think about the things they need help with. Not only does this give student's a to-do list that they can check off as they practice and to keep pace, but it forces them to think about their needs. When sitting down with a student or hearing from them, this makes teaching much easier and efficient because there is a roadmap.

Before talking to teachers about their needs, students should ask themselves:

1. What specifically do I need help with? Do I need help with a part of the content or is it something I need to work individually to change?

2. Have I pushed myself to a point where I need help? Is asking for help me being lazy or me working to progress my learning?

3. What are some suggestions I can give to my teacher about the format of learning I need or the topics of concern?