Marissa

Certified Tutor

I am a graduate of Providence Christian College, a small liberal arts school in Pasadena. I received my bachelor's in liberal arts with English and history concentrations. In college, I worked in our Academic Resource Center editing essays and leading study groups for struggling students. After college, I began tutoring language arts for elementary and middle school students. I help students improve their reading comprehension, phonetics, and grammar.

My favorite subjects to tutor are language arts and American literature. Knowledge is power, as the saying goes, and knowledge comes through reading and writing. Literacy is the path to liberty, independence, and fulfillment and I want to help students succeed in their reading and writing to empower them to freedom. One of my favorite historical books is The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas. In his autobiography, Douglas, a former slave, describes how his masters kept him enslaved by making it illegal for slaves to learn to read and write. However, one of Douglas' kinder mistresses educated him, and this power enabled him to run away and eventually write his radical memoir that led to the abolition of slavery in America.

Learning begins with questioning, so I ask my students lots of questions to invoke discussion that leads them to the right answers. I learn what my students are interested in, and I shape my lesson plans around their interests. I communicate with my students to make sure they are understanding and they feel like we are moving toward their goals. All people are smart and able, so even when students seem disinterested, I hold them to a high expectation. I care about my students as human beings in the pursuit of their dreams which means I will do my best always to teach them and respect their time. I am very patient, encouraging, and kind to my students because that is the environment I need when I am learning.

In my spare time I enjoy hanging out with my friends, reading novels, creative writing, taking walks around the Rosebowl, singing, watching sunsets from the San Gabriel mountains, and eating breakfast in the morning sun with a strong cup of coffee.