Allison

Certified Tutor

I first became interested in tutoring in high school, where I found myself helping friends in anything from AP Literature to the math portions on the SATs. In my experience, working one on one with people has been incredibly rewarding, as it allows for a deeper level of communication between the tutor and the tutee. I began tutoring more formally when I started attending college at Boston University. Throughout my junior year, I worked at BUs Writing Center as a writing consultant, where we help students with papers from the writing courses, ESL English courses, and various other courses in the College of Arts and Sciences. Being a consultant has given me the opportunity to work with students from diverse backgrounds, whether they be an ESL student in Biology or a student from Boston studying English, and I am excited to return to this work during my upcoming senior year.
Working with so many different students has taught me a lot about tutoring, including valuable lessons about different learning styles and communication. My approach to tutoring is typically to begin with a discussion with the students about what they feel their strengths and weaknesses are, and their past experiences with the subject being discussed. I have found that engaging with the student and opening a line of communication helps me to determine what the focus of a session should be and how directly to approach learning specific topics. Some students require more direct visual step-by-step examples whereas others can benefit by completing a problem individually and then reviewing errors. Therefore, I try to keep in mind that figuring out a students learning process by asking questions about teaching styles and specific challenges is often just as important as the material being taught; not only does identifying these characteristics help me better tailor my tutoring approach, but it can also help the student better learn on their own.
Outside of tutoring, I am an avid reader, movie lover, gamer, and concert-goer. When Im not re-reading my favorite Shakespeare play or watching the latest comic book movie, I can usually be found jumping up and down at a rock concert somewhere in the Boston area. Music has been an incredible influence upon my life, allowing me to connect with friends and strangers alike through the art of others. Im also a passionate animal lover, and I volunteer weekly to clean and (mostly) play with cats at the shelter, despite being a bit allergic. Additionally, being a computer science and philosophy double major at Boston University, I love discussing topics about technology and existentialism. People tend to say Im the textbook definition of a nerd, and Id have to proudly agree with them. I love learning new things and sharing knowledge with others, which is one of the reasons I find tutoring so rewarding. Oftentimes I find that as I help a student better understand a topic, I too get to learn quite a lot from them, and Im excited to continue to share my love of knowledge with others.