What I love most about teaching and tutoring are the students I get to meet and push towards excellence. At the heart of every tutor/student interaction is the relationship built between the tutor and student. Learning requires both trust and understanding. With this as the bedrock, a successful academic relationship occurs organically between educator and student. Every person is unique and different - learning how to use one's unique set of skills to conquer any subject is the centerpiece of my teaching philosophy. As the saying goes, "A student does not care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

I have learned the above lessons in my time working as a tutor and teacher at a charter high school in Newark, New Jersey. In this role I specifically tutored three sections of math: pre-algebra, algebra 1, and geometry. I also wrote and tutored the AP Language and Composition materials for the school's 11th grade, and teacher assisted the AP United States History class. Later in the year I became a full time teacher for 10th grade AP World History, where I received a teacher certification in the state of New Jersey that is currently being transferred to Connecticut.

Tutoring and teaching these subjects confirmed a love of learning that I have always had. My students and I, several of whom were several grades behind, worked tirelessly to achieve grade level with much success. We worked hard and pushed each other to achieve. I hope to continue this effort moving forward.

Someone once told me, "the greatest hockey player does not always make the greatest coach." Admittedly, math was never my strongest subject growing up. However, it is this very trait that also makes me an outstanding math tutor. In order for me to understand what I am teaching, I need to go the extra mile to answer the tough how and why questions. I need to break down every problem and at each step question what I am doing. As a result, I have a great appreciation for math because it requires endurance and hard work, but gives the best feeling once mastered.

Aside from being a certified secondary school social studies teacher, I have the benefit of a unique college education. Both my bachelor's degrees were interdisciplinary and allowed me to take classes across the social sciences and humanities: anthropology, history, English, political science, sociology, philosophy, economics, geography, etc. I did not learn strictly history. Rather, I learned how to question history and how to apply all the facts and dates to the real world. Social studies is about who we are as human beings and why human actions occur. It is the study of us, and once we recognize the power in that reflection, history quickly becomes everyone's favorite subject!