Biography

My first tutoring experience tutoring was back in high school, in a tutoring club named Mu Alpha Theta. It was highly gratifying to help younger students do well in the same classes that I already succeeded in, making their path more smooth than mine was. Several years later, I tutored remotely for a local middle school during the COVID pandemic. At the time, I was a university student who had experienced the sudden transition from in-person to remote learning myself. I knew that middle and high school students were having a similar experience, but in even more formative educational years, and I knew that I had the ability to assist them in that difficult period. In addition, prior to starting my position at AJ, I worked for another tutoring company where I taught the SAT and ACT.

I was born in San Bernardino, CA and raised in Victorville, CA. I graduated from UCLA in 2022 with a B.S. in Psychobiology, and am considering medical school for the future. My biggest takeaway from embarking on such a competitive educational path is that I must be accountable to myself first and foremost. If I cheat and cut corners, I am only cheating myself. I like to use this personal philosophy to motivate and support my students.

I know what it’s like to be unprepared for a class from the very beginning, and to have a generally negative experience in that class, always feeling as if I am playing catch-up. As a K-8 study skills tutor, I have the ability to help students to learn how to learn, and to do so efficiently, so that they can finally feel as if they can enjoy gaining an education. Having acquired a B.S. in a STEM subject, I have firsthand experience applying the math skills I learned in algebra class back in middle school not only to my classes, but in the real world experiences I have had working in the medical field. When students ask the good question “How could this be useful to me?” I can give them real answers to motivate them.

As a 1-on-1 tutor, I recognize that every student is an individual, and different students may pick up and retain content in different ways. For each and every student, my goal is to give them a personalized experience that a teacher with 20-30 other students cannot. From the first lesson and throughout my time with a student, I view it as my job to get to know them personally: what motivates them, what frustrates them, their short-term goals, their long-term goals, never assuming that one student is necessarily like the next, or even very similar to myself.

I am not afraid to challenge a student, as, all too often, students lack belief in their own abilities. Every student, not just a select few, should acknowledge their own agency– their ability to succeed even if they have failed in the past, and their ability to fail due to overconfidence after past success.

In my free time, I love to play the drums, whether I am alone trying to think of cool new drum fills, or serving my church on the worship team. I also love training at the gym, reading classic literature and philosophy, and cultivating a spiritual life.