Features: A Message from Claes Nobel Meet your new Student Council Partner News College-Bound Advice Q & A on the SAT from the College Board Choosing a College Spotlight on Service Fulfilling F.U.N. at Day Camp for the Disabled Visiting the Philippines: A Life-changing Experience Non-Sibi: "Not for Oneself": Tsunami Relief Truths about Tutoring A Super Summer: Controlled Chaos at the Library Summer Experiences Summer Alternatives: Building the Mind AND the Body Summer Dreams: Friends and Fun at the World's Fair in Japan My Summer in Medical Research ICE in Summer: Georgia Tech Institute for Computer Education Learning about Leadership: National Student Leadership Conference Summertime... and the Living is Busy: from Houston, to Harvard, to Oxford Truths from Tutoring by Austin Johnson Chuckey Doak High School, Class of 2006 Afton, Tennessee In January of 2005, I started tutoring a middle school student in math through my high school's Service Learning class. I will call him John. When I began, I really had no idea of what challenges I would face, or if I would be able to help him at all. I had never tutored anyone before, so I entered the middle school cafeteria with some trepidation. John was in the seventh grade. That first day, we talked more about each other than fractions. We spent an hour and a half on skateboards, girlfriends, and what high school was really like. When I left that morning, I wasn't sure I had managed to teach him much scholastically, but I knew I had found a new friend! Two days later, we met again. I was prepared to let him know first thing that I was there to discuss math, but surprisingly he was the first to mention his assignment. It seems that taking a little extra time to get to know my student had paid off in the long run. He suddenly found mathematics fun--or at least interesting. I discovered that although he was a little slow in math, John had the capability to learn quickly. He could grasp "the big picture" of concepts easily. John (like me) needed some special attention and one-on-one explanation to get him where he needed to be, which he hadn't received through our public education system. I was able to work with John for nearly six months, keeping a journal the entire time. At the end of May, I looked back through the pages and quickly realized just how far John and I had come together. For while he had progressed through basic math functions, fractions, cross multiplying, and then passed his state-mandated standardized test, I had learned quite a bit about myself, too. And although my goal is now to become an educator on a higher level than middle school, I had finally realized my true calling through my tutoring experience. Everyone reading this, I implore you to take advantage of my experience. I am not telling you to tutor or mentor a student: I am advising you to take advantage of every opportunity that life gives you, because you never know what you're going get in return. << Back to Journal Home page