Asian American Tutorial Project

I never believed that I would be a tutor. For one, I don't have the patience and two, I don't know how to teach people. I'm one of those people who knows the material but isn't able to coherently convey the information from my brain to my tutee. Nevertheless, I joined the Asian American Tutorial Project.

We tutored elementary school kids at Castelar Elementary School in Chinatown. My tutee, a second grader named Grace, reminded me of myself as a young kid. She was quiet, soft-spoken, and bright. Assigned a 5-page homework packet to be finished in one hour, she diligently completed the packet with 10 minutes to spare. Many kids simply become antsy and put off the homework packet. When I was little, my dogma was "work hard, play hard". Unlike other kids who play first and then work on their homework later, I would power through my homework first so that I would have ample time to play later (without a guilty conscience about not completing my homework). I can't tell whether or not she enjoyed hour time together though - she doesn't talk a lot and I'm at a lost of what to talk about with a second grader.

Not only was tutoring a good experience, I found a really great group of new friends.