Learn By Teaching Others

Tutoring is something I have always enjoyed. I love seeing how someone else’s brain works while also helping them reach their goals. My freshman year of college I struggled to adapt, coming straight out of the pandemic. Though I graduated valedictorian of my high school, I had spent the latter half of my junior year and all of my senior year online. Unlike many of my peers, I thrived in online school. I loved learning at my own pace and not having a strict schedule to keep. Going to college was a huge adjustment. Almost all classes were back to being entirely in person, but students and professors had to wear masks and keep social distancing rules. It was rough. I had a hard time understanding my professors who tried to speak as clearly as they could while wearing a mask, and most of the time I could not wait to get out of the hot, stuffy classrooms and breathe fresh air. My classes were significantly more advanced and more demanding than what I was used to in high school, and I felt like I needed to absorb information faster than ever before. If I am honest, I struggled to keep up. 

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    It was not long before I realized that I was going to need more help than I originally anticipated. At the beginning of the year I remember hearing of the resources that the University of South Carolina’s Student Success Center offered, and when I asked a professor of mine for advice on how to keep up, I was recommended to try there. After doing further research, I was both impressed and relieved to see all of the resources being offered there. There were smaller sessions called Supplemental Instruction where a student who was previously successful in a particular class would go over what was being taught in class, work through examples, and host test reviews. There were a few sessions offered per week and they were all completely voluntary. Peer Tutoring appointments were also offered if one-on-one instruction was needed or preferred. I tried almost every resource that was offered. I attended supplemental instruction sessions a few times a week and if I was really struggling, I would schedule a peer tutoring appointment to get the help I needed. Slowly, my personal and academic confidence began to flourish. I knew that if I did not understand something in class, or if I needed extra help preparing for an exam, there was somewhere I could go, and people that would pour into me. 

I fell in love with the Student Success Center. The peer leaders were always so kind, and I admired the way they would selflessly help other students, while also keeping up with an academic career of their own. I decided that it was something that I wanted to be part of. 

For the first semester of my second year of undergrad, I did not have classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays. As someone who likes to constantly stay busy, I committed to being a peer leader and tutored on those days. I remember being so excited when I went to grab my peer tutoring starter pack–which contained dry erase markers, an eraser, and sheets for students to write down their goals. I felt so official, and wondered just what goals students would be coming in with.  For a math nerd, it was the perfect job. As much as I enjoy math, I also realize that it is a love that not everyone shares. However, just as someone had poured into and inspired me, while also helping me realize my academic goals, I aspired to do the same for someone else.  

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At the beginning of each appointment, it was always the same. I would introduce myself and meet the student, and have them write down their goals for their appointment on the sheet. Every student came in wanting something different. For some, it was simply to achieve a better grade. Others were at risk of failing a class or in desperate need to pass after retaking a class. Then there were some who were doing well and either needed simple reassurance, or someone to be there while they attempted problems on their own for the first time. No matter the case, it was always rewarding to work with students through their toughest problems, answering the questions they came up with, and watching them leave with a sense of accomplishment. 

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Though I was the one teaching and helping these students, I always found that they were the ones teaching me. These peers taught me patience. In every tutoring appointment, though a student may have been frustrated with the subject coming in, every single one demonstrated a level of patience that was admirable to me. No matter how stuck they were, they persisted until they got it. If I am honest, patience is something that I can struggle with. I want to figure it out immediately, and can get discouraged if I am unable to do it. Another thing they taught me is humility. These students were so humble when they came in and would ask almost any question, even if they thought it might be obvious. Through them, I saw that my pride was prohibiting my success. Because of this, I became more comfortable asking questions in class, even if I thought I may sound silly. I remembered that it did not matter what my peers may think of my intelligence, that I was there to learn. The most important thing that I learned is that the learning process is not supposed to be easy. This is something that came up when I took Aircraft Design and Senior Design, both with the same professor. Something that he always told us was to take our time with the assignments because they were going to be challenging. He said, “Learning is supposed to hurt.” And boy, was he right. These were not assignments that could be rushed through. The first artifact shows the initial report for my Aircraft Design class. My partner and I designed an airplane from start to finish, using only a few numerical requirements to start. It was difficult to think of designing a plane using only a list of reference conditions.  I remembered the perseverance I had seen in my tutoring sessions, how the students would take it from the very basics and slowly work their way to a solution using the fundamentals. The second artifact shows the final design report for my aircraft design class. These two documents show a semester's worth of blood, sweat, and tears.  Learning was something that I thought came easy to me. When it was no longer easy, I could not let myself get defeated. I learned to start from the basics, learn the fundamentals, and slowly work to a solution. 

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The third artifact at the bottom of the page is a philosophy statement that I wrote during my time as a peer leader.  At the end of the semester, I was asked to write out qualities I thought a peer leader should have based on what I learned throughout the semester. I may not have realized then, but being a peer tutor helped to shape the rest of my college experience.  These are lessons that I learned toward the beginning of my undergraduate career, but they are lessons that I am going to carry with me well after I graduate. While learning is rewarding, teaching is inspiring. In the future, I want to take on a teaching role in whatever job I end up in. Not only will it encourage me to know more about the job I am doing, but I can not wait to see what I am going to learn from those who I am teaching in the future.