Patrick

Certified Tutor

As the oldest of five children, teaching came naturally to me. I'd play Monopoly Junior with my sister, helping her practice her addition and subtraction. I read with my brother, a six-year-old and recent Kindergarten graduate, to have him practice his phonics and sight words. I can't help but smile as he attempts to pronounce something new.

In my senior year of high school, I volunteered at a local elementary school, providing classroom assistance to teachers of Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. I worked with kids of widely-spanning ages on skills from alphabet citation to the formation of complex sentences, pattern recognition to long division. For me, as important as helping those students was establishing friendships with them. I went back to visit the kids over Christmas Break and was astounded at how many of them looked at me with smiles of recognition.

My love for tutoring has extended into college. I have just finished my first year at The University of Dallas where I am currently pursuing all subjects under the sun; however, I am leaning towards Majors in English and Classical Philology. On Monday and Wednesday afternoons, a group of my colleagues and me visit a nearby grade school to help Fourth through Eighth Graders with their Math and Reading.

I love college, but I try to step outside the "ivory tower" once in a while. Outside academics, I enjoy riding my bike, playing soccer and basketball, reading, and holding rich conversation. I am a huge Chess fan and a member of Chess.com, which I visit nearly every day. Roman Catholicism is important to me, and I try to balance doctrine with ethics in the daily practice of my faith.

My favorite subject to tutor is English. My "liberal arts" education has convinced me that learning to communicate effectively precedes learning all other skills. However, besides English and Reading, I also like to tutor for Mathematics (particularly Algebra and Geometry and anything new building towards them) and Latin, which I have studied for five years. I also offer ACT, PSAT, and Advanced Placement (AP) Test Prep. I'm a patient fellow and therefore can afford to support the Socratic Method; I feel that students learn best when they arrive at answers to their own questions through the guidance of instructors.