My Tutoring Experience by Julie Strubinger
When I was in the eighth grade, I received a letter from the Triangle Center asking me to consider being a tutor for younger students in my school. This letter convinced that I should try it. After all, I was getting good grades myself, so maybe I could help someone else to get better grades. Looking back on that day, I am glad that I made that decision. I was not sure what to expect when I started, but it has been quite an experience. Four years later, I still tutor and really enjoy the program. Over time, tutoring has taught me different things.
Tutoring definitely had a learning curve for me as I learned about my student and what were the most effective methods for her. Tutoring was not about me; it was about my student Lupe. One incident that sticks out in my mind from the first year was one day when she was doing her reading homework. Lupe was doing a vocabulary question and was not quite sure what the word meant. When she asked me about it, I launched into a description, using easy words to explain it and hand gestures to show it visually. She looked me with a strange expression on her face at first, but then she suddenly understood. That moment made tutoring worth it because I saw that I was getting through to her. It felt good that I was able to help her.
My second year was even better. I was paired with a middle school girl named Kaitlyn. She was fairly enthusiastic about school; she just needed help with certain subjects. I quickly learned that I had to use different methods with her than I had with my previous student. I think that the number one lesson that Kailtyn taught me was that no two students learn in the same way. She also showed me that learning and reviewing does not always have to deal with textbooks and mountains of worksheets. Rather, Kaitlyn proved that learning was simply a matter of acting on what works for the individual. She loved competition, so I tried to make studying a competitive game that she could show some enthusiasm about. Occasionally, the two of us paired up with another tutoring group and had little spelling contests. Kaitlyn loved those because they incorporated her competitive nature.
The third year continued to get better. I was assigned to tutor a very sweet girl named Justine. She often struggled with the little things, but she was determined to understand her homework. For me, the defining moment came one day when she had math homework. On this worksheet, Justine was supposed to divide fractions. I asked her if she knew the steps to do that. She shook her head, so we consulted her textbook together. I showed her the example in the book and explained why the steps were done. Then, I took her step-by-step through the first few problems on the worksheet until she grasped the pattern. She got better and better as she got closer to the bottom of the paper. By the end of the worksheet, she was ready to do the problems by herself. I checked those when she was done, and she had done them correctly. That moment may not sound like a big deal, but it seemed like a personal victory for her since math was not her best subject. She was able to conquer a new math concept and successfully apply it by herself. I was glad to lead her in the right direction to get this accomplishment. In my mind, that experience served as a big example that tutoring is not simply about the student doing well on the homework that I helped them to do, but it is about putting down a foundation of understanding that they can apply on future homework.
My fourth year, which just ended, was another rewarding year. This year I was paired with a boy named Kyle. In a way, he reminded me of Kaitlyn because he definitely has a competitive drive. One day, he was studying for a science test and wanted me to quiz him over some key concepts of the chapter. Using his textbook as a guide, I asked him about the five types of energy. He quickly listed the first four types of “electrical, mechanical, thermal, chemical” but then trailed off. He could not think of the last type, but he tried to remember since he really wanted to be able to answer with all of the types. He finally gave up, so I told him that the last type was light energy. Later in the session, I asked him that question again, and he quickly gave me all five types. He was very pleased to get that question since he had struggled with it previously. I think that the main thing that Kyle taught me was perseverance. He did not get it right the first time, but he knew that he had a chance to get it the second time.
As a whole, tutoring has been a positive experience for me. It has taught me to be less selfish with my time. Sometimes, it seems as if I simply do not have time to tutor because I think of all the things that I need to do that day. However, then I realize that that is what tutoring is all about - the small sacrifice of my time in order to help someone else. In the big scheme of things, the fact that I took the time to help the student will mean more than having some extra free time. Since I knew how good it felt to help others, tutoring has encouraged me to branch out to other forms of volunteering.
Over the years, the students have taught me things even as I teach them. I realized that I thoroughly enjoy tutoring and explaining things. Normally, I am a tad nervous about speaking, especially public speaking. However, when I am explaining something, I feel more confident about what I am saying. This new confidence makes me want to continue with tutoring throughout high school. Even after I graduate, I hope to continue with explaining. My experiences with tutoring helped me to decide on my future career. I want to be a high school English teacher. I love all of my English classes, and I want to combine that with my love of tutoring. I feel that being an English teacher is a good career move for me and that my years of tutoring have pointed me in that direction. They have helped to prepare me for teaching while giving me experience in explaining things to people on their level.
As I reflect upon all of my tutoring experiences, I realize that signing up to be a tutor was a very good decision. I was able to help various children and make them into better students. However, tutoring did more than just help the students. I feel that I got much from it as well. I got new confidence from successfully explaining things. In addition, my experiences with the tutoring program made me consider becoming a teacher. It seems as if tutoring may have benefited me just as much as it benefited the students. Maybe that saying that one gets more when by giving is true; I know that it certainly proved itself to be correct in my life.
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