"I’m a Political Science student at SMU on the pre-law track, and I tutor Spanish and Political Science. I started tutoring in high school at Phillips Academy Andover, mostly helping classmates when it came to Spanish, as I tested out of the language requirement credit before even attending the school. That experience stuck with me because it showed me how much easier school can feel when someone explains things in a way that actually makes sense to you and makes you feel more confident about the topic.

Spanish is my strongest subject. I’m fluent because I lived in Mexico City for a part of my life, and the language has always felt natural to me rather than something I had to memorize. I scored 5s on both AP Spanish Language and AP Spanish Literature, simply because of how familiar and comfortable I am with the language. When I tutor Spanish, I focus a lot on building confidence. I devote time to grammar and vocab, but I feel the hardest thing when it comes to language is confidence; being comfortable speaking, reading, and writing is usually what students struggle with most.

Now at SMU, I tutor online and in person. In addition to Spanish, I help with Political Science and writing-heavy classes. A lot of that work is breaking down readings and figuring out what a prompt is really asking, which in many cases is where students struggle the most. I have helped students organize their thoughts so essays don’t feel impossible before they even start and have given constructive feedback on essays and even have edited works.

Through my experience in tutoring, I have developed my skills and teaching style. Ultimately, I believe tutoring looks very different from one person to the next, as it should be because there is no one-size-fits-all way of learning. Some people want things explained methodically, step by step. While on the other hand, some just need to talk it out, and in other cases, some students just need reassurance that they’re not completely lost." less...