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Grace

Certified Tutor

I am a current junior at the University of Virginia, and am working towards degrees in Foreign Affairs and Women and Gender Studies. I have worked closely with students in several capacities. For the past two years, I have been a part of an organization at the University of Virginia that matches up college and high school students for tutoring and mentoring. The focus of this organization is on forming long-term bonds between the students and on helping them navigate the college process, so I have lots of experience with my students writing and editing college essays and preparing for SATs. I also help them with career-building activities such as creating resumes, and I tutor them in high school subjects they might need help with. Recently, I was elected president of this organization, and I have been working with staff at UVA to turn the program into a class for the college students, to help hold them accountable and to integrate tutoring and mentoring skills into a syllabus.

Last summer, I taught English and Math to children in India, and learned how hard but rewarding it is to teach the very basics of language and math. I was responsible for creating my own lesson plans and for managing the classroom with one or two other volunteers. I also worked in a low-income elementary school in the United States, where I assisted teachers by helping students individually- I worked with both third grade and pre-kindergarten. The previous summer, I helped at an afternoon reading program for recently homeless children, where I led lessons.

I feel that the most important quality that a great tutor can have is accountability- by being consistently accountable to the student, showing up prepared and eager to spend time with them, you show them how much you care. Doing so forms a close bond, and allows the tutor to be much more effective. I think that it is also important to understand the place that the student is coming from- to be empathetic about problems they may be having either at home or with their schoolwork. I think tutoring at its most effective should not feel forced, but should be a partnership between tutor and student.

I love working with students on all subjects, but my personal favorites tend to be English, and I enjoy working through and strengthening college essays- I always learn more about the students, which is incredibly rewarding. In my free time, I love to read, run, cook, and I enjoy art and all types of music.