Kathleen: Essex County tutor

Certified Tutor

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.--Mark Van Doren

I attended the University of California at Berkeley starting in the summer of 2011. When I began, I thought that I would enter the computer science field. I quickly realized, however, that my strengths and interests lay in essay writing and the development of arguments. This prompted my decision to switch to political science and the study thereof.

During my time at Berkeley, I worked as a writing tutor at the local community college, at which point, I found that I enjoyed teaching. I taught a wide variety of students and worked, at an individual level, with anyone from high school students to working professionals returning to school after a long break. No matter who I worked with, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and interacting with people from a variety of backgrounds.

My teaching experience lies in the creation, structure, and editing of essays. I have worked with students who needed help coming up with ideas, students who were submitting applications to colleges, students who were writing stories for fun, and many other areas.

Outside of teaching, my hobbies include playing the cello, running, and having deep, philosophical arguments with my cat. I have also recently rediscovered the incredible joy of drinking coffee in the Pacific Northwest.

Writing is, ultimately, an act of self-expression. It is the creation of thoughts and ideas, it is the organization and structure of those ideas, and it is the act of sharing those ideas with other people. I believe, therefore, that the ability to write coherently and cohesively is, most of all, empowering.

My goal as a teacher is not only to provide knowledge and instruction, but to give students the ability to edit their own work, to organize their own ideas, and to understand their own weaknesses and strengths as writers. I do this in a way that is catered specifically to every student. I aim to structure learning in a way that takes into account what the students seek to learn and what experiences have shaped their writing. Essentially, I aim to give students the tools they need to succeed on their own.