Dabian

Certified Tutor

I am a patient and kind teacher and tutor. I love teaching and tutoring because it makes a difference in the lives of other people. No matter how challenging my students' work may seem, they will have my support and encouragement. I welcome your input, and I enjoy seeing my students build their confidence, make progress, and meet their goals. I am also a global citizen who respects and values people of various cultures, backgrounds, and ages.

I have earned a Ph.D. in English (Morgan State University), a 120-Hour TEFL certification (myTEFL/Footprints Language Education), an Intermediate Spanish Certificate (la Universidad Autnoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca), an M.A. in African American Studies (University of Iowa), and more than 18 hours in graduate-level history. I am a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key.

I have taught more than 10 years at the college and high school levels, including English, writing, literature, U.S. history, African American history, world civilization, film studies, and screenwriting. I teach and tutor in these subject areas. I am also an artist who teaches drawing classes.

During the second half of my career as an educator, I have witnessed too many young people being disqualified from opportunities and struggling to adapt to college-level work because they were weak in basic skills. Despite having graduated from high school, their reading, writing, analytical, and problem-solving skills were below high school level. Year after year, the problem has worsened. I am a teacher who can help prevent this from happening to your child.

Since 2011, I have also been a copy editor and proofreader. I edit all types of formal and informal writing for grammar, sentence structure, efficiency, and clarity.

My experience also includes four years as an Upward Bound academic counselor and one year as the coordinator of a homework center and summer program for elementary school children. Therefore, I have worked with small children, preteens, teens, and adults successfully.

My talents and skills also include poetry, art, and storytelling. I have written poetry since I was a child. I have let my students read and write parodies and compare poems to songs in the literature classes that I have taught. I have conducted poetry workshops for K-12 classes and community organizations.

I have been drawing since I was a toddler watching re-runs of the campy Batman TV series (from way before my time) and trying to imitate what I saw. As I got older, I drew other comic book characters and Transformers. I took art classes in high school and college. Later, I taught a drawing workshop (basic drawing and anime/manga) as part of the weekend and summer activities for an Upward Bound program (a pre-college program for grades 9-12).

My Ph.D. in English includes a concentration in Film Studies and Screenwriting, and I have been a movie script analyst since 2011. I have rated scripts for writers, production companies, and screenwriting contests.

My awards include the Adele V. Holden Creative Writing Excellence Award (portfolio of screenplays).

At the Cannes Film Festival, I screened and represented Filmsnoir's short film "Prodigal" while I was also an intern for Panorama Media (Annapurna's film distribution).

I am a creative and versatile person whose interests are quite diverse. I like current and classic music, movies, television, and comics--especially action, comedy, sports, wrestling, martial arts, and anime. My huge kung fu collection includes the work of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Angela Mao, and the Venom Mob. I also have plenty of Shaw Bros, Golden Harvest, and American-made films. Some of my favorite anime are Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, Gatchaman, and Bleach.

My favorite adventures include ziplining in Mexico as well as screening my colleague's short film, attending movie premieres, and walking the red carpet twice at the Cannes Film Festival in France.