Since I was a little girl I have always been passionate about mathematics. Even when being only four years old, I was able to solve difficult for some adults' mathematical problems. Sadly, it has been so long ago that I don't remember this clearly. On the other hand, I will never forget kindergarten times. My father used to always bring a weekly magazine home on Thursdays. I really enjoyed solving all of the logical problems and Sudoku in every weekly magazine. Since then Thursday has been my favorite day of the week.
Upon starting elementary school, I continued developing my mathematical skills. For example, when I was a 3rd grader, I had helped my older brother to solve his math homework. All of my family was amazed. My brother was in the 7th grade at that time. Also, while being in the elementary school, I started tutoring for the first time. My first students were my friends. They have been my best friends since then, and we will always remember these marvelous times of cooperation.
The public elementary school I attended was rather easy for everybody. But my parents have always wanted best for their children. Having noticed my exceptional skills in mathematics, they decided to enroll me in a lyceum, a much more costly, but providing a great education institution. Many on my elementary school teachers were afraid that I'll fail, because the education was a lot more challenging there. Nevertheless, I have managed to succeed and my tuition was waived after I finished my first year there with excellent grades. It was my first great achievement, and I am very proud of it. Since my family didn't have much income, my parents were very grateful for my hard work.
At high school I encountered economics for the first time. I understood that knowledge in economics could advance my mathematical skills and help me achieve great improvements. In 2008 I won a 2nd place in the Ukrainian competitions in basic economics. The next year I worked even harder to become an absolute winner. I was able to achieve my goals due to love to math and creativeness, as well as being great in problem-solving. During the competition I had to solve some economic problems I haven't had experience with before. However, facilitating my creativity and logic has helped me to work through these problems and achieve the highest points among others. In addition, I had successfully participated in many competitions in chemistry. However, I never was as passionate about chemistry as about mathematics. All my achievement qualified me for receiving the Presidential Scholarship. It was a great amount of money, but since my tuition was waived and my parent would always make sure I had everything I need, I decided to use the scholarship for something I considered the most important. I bought my mother a winter coat. I remember that winter as extremely cold, and my mom didn't have a good coat to keep her warm enough.
Luckily, I didn't have any problems choosing my major at the university. I was absolutely certain I wanted to major at Economic Cybernetics, a major related to application of statistics and mathematics for optimization of economic systems. The admissions process was highly competitive. The Department of Economic Cybernetics has the highest average integrated score of enrolled students among all other departments. I received an opportunity to become accepted as a student with waived tuition and monthly scholarship payments. The financial assistance I received encouraged me to work even harder, to make sure there is no doubt that I am a deserving student. During my college years I provided a lot of on campus tutoring. I find it very stimulating when my tutoring helps other students to succeed in the field that seemed to be difficult for them.
I believe that every student can develop knowledge in the any given field at the desired level. However, often it just takes more time and efforts for some students than for others. Information that students are given during the class is aimed at an average student, while tutoring is personally tailored to identify and fill out the possible gaps in student knowledge or to expand it to the next level.
I am confident that understanding should come before learning by heart. Students who understand the concepts/definitions/formulas/etc. are more likely to keep knowledge for longer periods and recognize situations when this specific knowledge may be applicable.
For me curiosity and "I-can-do-it" approach are the two most important learning elements. Therefore, as a tutor I am here for students to build their interest in a subject, so learning will become more fun. Also, I focus on developing student confidence that they are able and will nail the subject. Hence, they do not get discouraged when a new challenging exercise arises.