Nathan

Certified Tutor

I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Western Washington University in 2013, and then spent 18 months completing the doctoral course work at Boston College for synthetic chemistry. I've tutored general and organic chemistry privately at Western Washington university, and I've taught discussion sections of general and organic chemistry at Boston College. I'm currently pursuing a Masters in Teaching.

My strength as a tutor is that I'm not so far removed from playing the role a student myself, and I remember the struggle of encountering tough material for the very first time. I like to keep that perspective in mind when I meet with students; my tutoring style is focused on building up from strong foundational principles, rather than drilling material into one ear so it can spill out the other. I'm striving to reach that "aha" moment, when the material becomes intuitive. I love to approach science problems from multiple angles with students, to increase comprehension and confidence in the material rapidly.

I've been a part of two very strong organic chemistry research teams, for a total of about 3 years. I was fortunate to publish the research that I had accomplished while at Western Washington University. (More details about my research are available on my resume/curriculum vitae.)

Outside of academia, my passions are: Lindy Hop (a kind of jazz dance), cooking meals with/for loved ones, reading (novels, short stories, poetry...), and a very wide variety of music.