Monica

Certified Tutor

My passion for helping students comes from being a student. I always look back and remember those teachers that took a little extra time to explain something in a different way or to even just slow down and explain a concept again. Without realizing it, those teachers lit a spark in me that made me want to help others inside and outside of the classroom.
When it comes to my experience with working with students, I have found teaching to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have tried to model my classroom behavior after those who inspired my passion for helping students. I create a fair classroom that enables all types of learners to find value in the course. I also make sure that the student is an active participant in their education. While I can lecture on poetry, writing or great short stories, I would much rather talk a bit and then have the student do something active so they can practice the concepts.
For me, creating an active learning environment stems from receiving my education in my hometown of El Paso, Tx. I received my high school diploma from Silva Magnet High School for the Health Care Professions, where we learned something from the teacher, practiced it in the classroom, and then applied it in the real world during rotations. I didn't enter the medical field, but that learning process shaped me as both a learner and an educator. After High School, I attended the University of Texas at El Paso getting degrees in Creative Writing with a minor in Women's Studies. My Master's degree is an MFA and considered terminal in academia.
Because of my degrees, I tutor in English, Creative Writing, Literature and related fields. Even before majoring in the discipline of creative writing, I knew I had a passion for this field. I always just understood it better, but it was in working at the college level with entering freshman that I truly realized how to help others understand the subject, even if it didn't come naturally to them.