As a current junior in college, I personally know what the journey through elementary, middle, and high school looks like. Often, as students go through these years of their lives, they are dealing with a host of school-related challenges not only limited to academics, but also to peer-related obstacles and personal, emotional, and identity issues. As a tutor for young students such as these, I am responsible for helping them focus on their academic goals while also guiding them to question and view critically these challenges with which they are faced. I firmly believe that my role as an English and writing tutor goes beyond simply introducing effective strategies and techniques for scoring well on a test; my primary aim is to get students thinking critically by asking them questions and allowing them to expand their perspectives on a wide range of real world topics. Over the course of this somewhat gradual process, it is my hope that they will be able to view writing and the English language as a beautiful and complex expression of thought -- more than as just a bland, required essay that has them thinking in binaries.

As an avid reader and writer myself, I feel I am qualified to assist students from the basics of English language structure to the intricacies of crafting a well-written essay or paper. Throughout my high school and college career, I have helped many of my peers with their writing assignments by proofreading their work, suggesting changes for improvement in content and style, and having conversations with them to better understand what message they are attempting to convey. Doing so in a relatively informal setting has enabled me to see each of my students not as just another face in the crowd, but instead, as someone with whom I connect and personally want to help improve.

Further, my experience as an English major and Creative Writing minor at Stony Brook University has attuned me to the most important aspects of reading and writing in my everyday life, whether I am reading a novel for class or for pleasure, drafting a lengthy paper, or scrawling out a poem on a piece of scrap paper. Making reading and writing a personal passion and a primary part of my life allows me to recognize the beauty in teaching it to others, which I believe, in turn, will help students recognize the beauty in learning it as well.