Hannah: Hayward tutor

Certified Tutor

My experience working with students is broad and has evolved over time. As an undergraduate, I served as a teaching assistant and peer tutor in a variety of science courses, including General Chemistry, Genetics, Microbiology, and Immunology. These roles allowed me to assist in large lecture settings as well as provide individualized support during office hours and tutoring sessions, including hundreds of hours of teaching via an online platform. I later mentored students in a research lab and trained new team members in a clinical surgical setting, where effective communication and teaching were critical.

My teaching philosophy centers on empathy, adaptability, and metacognition. I aim not only to clarify difficult content but to help students learn how to learn. In a typical session, I focus on identifying the root of a student's misunderstanding and then tailoring my approach whether through analogies, diagrams, or active questioning to help them build a solid foundation. I believe that the most effective teaching fosters student independence, so I prioritize modeling how to approach complex material in a way that students can replicate on their own.

As a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, I earned a B.A. in Biology with a minor in Medical Anthropology. I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. While I tutor a range of science subjects, particularly those in the biological and chemical sciences, my favorite subjects to tutor are Microbiology and Immunology.


In my free time I enjoy baking, competing against my labmates in trivia, and knitting.