"Greetings!

My name is Sydney. I have a degree in Linguistics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with a focus in translating and interpreting. I work full-time as a computational linguist/conversational engineer, building out language models for AI. Tutoring has been a side-gig for me since 2012, through which I've discovered a love for working with students one-on-one.

A bit about me academically--I graduated with honors in the Spring of 2017, summa cum laude, student marshal for my department. I wrote an 80-page honors thesis with original research and experimentation concerning linguistic relativity and Russian verbs of motion. This research was conducted through a grant-funded trip to Russia, and my resulting presentation won the first place prize for Arts and Humanities. I received the Wiswell scholarship multiple times for excellence in Russian studies, and am fluent in Danish, Norwegian, and French. Intermediate Russian. Though I have experience in a wide variety of subjects, teaching languages is my favorite--for obvious reasons! Followed closely by early algebra, writing, and piano.

I also started my academic journey as a neuroscience major, so I've done a fair amount of study in neuroscience and its related fields. My eclectic work background also includes archery coaching, ballroom dance, West Coast Swing, and Argentine tango.

I've always been a curious soul with a passion for the pursuit of knowledge. Helping others succeed in this endeavor is such a pleasure that it hardly feels like a job. I fully believe in fostering a love of learning itself (not just the material!) and catering to individual student needs; there's little more frustrating than having something explained to you repeatedly using the same blanket format. We'll work together to pinpoint exactly where the misunderstandings are, and find a way through it in a way that is memorable. In addition to teaching the material itself, I teach how to learn effectively, and how to enjoy the process!" less...