Daniel: Ottawa tutor

Certified Tutor

I am a recent graduate from Harvey Mudd College, a top undergraduate engineering and liberal arts institution in California. During my time there, as the class sizes were small, I was able to establish many meaningful connections with my incredible professors. Inspired by their example, I quickly developed my own passions for education and mentorship and since then, I???ve sought out many different opportunities to become a better educator, leader, and scholar.

First, I joined an on-campus research group to study educational psychology. In my studies, I learned a lot about the disparities that students from different demographics face when providing and receiving feedback on engineering design. Subsequently, I took classes on Equity in STEM Education to learn more about what I could do as an educator to practice more inclusive pedagogies. I then took up a leadership position in Harvey Mudd's Office of Institutional Diversity as a Mentor and Tutor for their summer bridge program. In this role, I helped support incoming first-year students from marginalized backgrounds by counseling them through emotional crises, leadership development, and countless hours of academic tutoring. To continue mentoring and tutoring, I joined Harvey Mudd's Homework Hotline team, where I assisted K-12 students with homework over the phone. This experience equipped me with training that covered common core, active listening, and effective over-the-phone communication. More importantly, I learned to empathize and connect with a diverse set of students as well as parents.

Now, I am working as a member of the Varsity Tutors to continue my work supporting students who desire a strong academic foundation. I seek to help students gain excellence in math through fun and enjoyable learning strategies that are personalized to their unique learning style. I want all of my students to feel that math is approachable, accessible, and meant for them--no matter what their academic background is. I hope that by working with my students, I can empower them to not only be more motivated to do well in school but to also genuinely enjoy learning and developing their academic foundation.