"I first started tutoring while in college. Many of my students were international, so their languages and cultures varied. At the time, my subjects were business and marketing. However, working with foreign students, I soon realized our sessions would divert to questions about English as a language. Soon, I found that not only was I helping my students improve their business and marketing studies, I was teaching them pronunciation, basic grammar, vocabulary, and more.

These experiences sparked a fire in me, and years later I received my TESOL Certification from UMBC. Before obtaining my certification, I spent a year working for AmeriCorps through the Choice Program. I was stationed at Benjamin Franklin High School and did everything from attending IEP/behavioral meetings to informal counseling to classroom coaching to tracking academic trends for my clients. During this year, I worked with a caseload of thirty-six students and am pleased to say the last academic quarter I was present, several of my clients' GPAs increased.

While obtaining my TESOL certification, I began an internship at the Esperanza Center in Baltimore City, and had the opportunity to work with different proficiency levels. I enjoy starting each lesson as a mini-review session. I have found that this approach keeps my students alert, inclines them to study outside our sessions, and helps with long-term retention. Additionally, I love incorporating games into the lesson, so I'm not lecturing the entire session, but instead, my student is learning through an interactive, engaging process. I'm a big believer in multiple intelligences (verbal-linguistic, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, etc) and will tailor a lesson to whichever style is optimal for my student. Finally, through my experiences at UMBC and the Esperanza Center, I have learned that what I enjoy most about tutoring is getting to know my students.

I hope we have the chance to work together!" less...