I am a fourth year student at Harvard Medical School, and will start working as a pediatrician in July of 2016. However, if I had not decided to become a physician, I would have strongly considered becoming a teacher. Teaching is one of the most enjoyable activities I do, and I have taught in some capacity every year for the past ten years. I have taught subjects ranging from English to algebra, from physics to dance, and have taught students ranging in age from toddlers to adults. I have also provided advice on application essays, resumes, and interview strategies for Harvard College students applying to highly competitive scholarships. Each of these experiences has taught me how to communicate concepts in clear and engaging ways. For instance, while tutoring adolescents enrolled in the Boston-based Artists for Humanity program, I would often teach students whom I had never worked with before, and thus became adept at quickly discovering and implementing the strategies that worked best for a particular student (e.g., visual/tactile examples, analogies, and breaking down complex problems into smaller parts). While tutoring a janitorial staff member in preparation for the mathematics portion of her GED high school equivalency exam, I learned how to quickly identify the highest yield topics for a standardized exam and focus our efforts on those. Each of these experiences has been incredibly rewarding, and has inspired me to teach in some capacity throughout my career as a doctor.
