When I realized eight years ago that teaching is my passion, I decided to make it my life's work. Since then, I have taught conversational and business English in Asia and South America and I have tutored IELTS, TOEFL, and the GRE verbal in those regions and online as well. I have my Masters degree in TESOL from Hunter College in New York City and currently I am a PhD student in applied linguistics. At the moment, I am teaching at Bronx Community College College and Baruch College. My tutoring and teaching philosophy places the student at the center of my lessons. I assess every student's needs and goals before sessions begin and I continue to monitor the student for any changes. This is important for me because no amount of intelligence or knowledge on the part of the tutor will be transferred to the student if the tutor does not understand the student well. After all, tutoring is a social and interpersonal activity that requires patience, adaptability, empathy, and creativity.