The rewards of tutoring

Carlos Aguilera

Carlos Aguilera feels the best benefit of tutoring is to hear students tell him he really helped them.
Aguilera, an international student from Colombia and a senior math and computer science major, was influenced by his mother to become a tutor. Aguilera’s mother is a professor in Colombia.
“I have always helped students with Spanish, and I always wanted to tutor,” Aguilera said. “But I just couldn’t find the time with my previous job. I finally pursued what I would be happiest doing, so I started tutoring for the Learning Center this year.”
Aguilera asks the students questions about what they do not understand, so he can find examples that will strengthen their weak areas.
“I find it challenging to try to get some students motivated, so I try to make up examples that can be applied to their life to make it easier for the student. This gives the student another point of view, instead of the student just concentrating on the difficulty of the problem,” Aguilera said.
Aguilera said he feels that anyone can come to the Learning Center to receive the attention they need.
“Don’t be afraid to come to the Learning Center out of the fear of what other students may think. We have several students who are doing well in class who just want improvement or more insight into their work,” Aguilera said.
Aguilera is also a tutor for the softball team and has seen significant improvement with the players.
“I used to have to thoroughly walk through problems,” Aguilera said. “Now I can ask them a question and they are able to get the solutions themselves.”
After graduating in May, Aguilera plans to get career training through O.P.T. (Opportunity Practical Training). O.P.T. helps international students get one year of job training in their area of study in the United States, upon graduating from college. He is active in the International Club, Gamma Beta Phi, the Math Society and serves as the vice-president in Association for Computer Machinist Club.
Aguilera is available in the Learning Center Monday and Wednesday from 12 p.m. through 3 p.m.

Jody Snowden

Jody Snowden sets aside her love for the outdoors to help students in the Learning Center.
Snowden, a graduate student pursuing her master’s degree in outdoor education with an emphasis in administration, has tutored for several years. She taught at an independent study facility for homeschool children, while receiving her undergraduate degree at North Georgia College.
“I was so excited to find out Georgia College & State University had a graduate assistantship in the Learning Center when I started graduate school. I love tutoring and felt I had great experience and knowledge to offer the students,” Snowden said.
Because Snowden loved the rewards and benefits from helping homeschool children, she knew she wanted to continue to help others.
“My greatest success was with a group of ninth grade algebra students,” Snowden said. “I worked with them for several years and was able to see their progression in math. It felt wonderful to hear them say ‘Thank you.’”
Snowden finds patience to be her greatest challenge in tutoring.
“I am generally not a patient person, but for some reason I tend to be very patient when tutoring students. I only lose my patience with myself when I feel I can’t find a better way of finding a solution,” Snowden said.
When tutoring, Snowden finds out the student’s specific problems and lets them ask questions to find where they stand with the material.
“Students should take advantage of the Learning Center because it is a free service and the tutors are here to help,” Snowden said.
Snowden dreams of moving out West to open a residential resort for children that offers schooling and outdoor activities. She loves to be outdoors and is very active with her major.
“I just returned from a two week kayaking, canoeing, caving and backpacking trip through Tennessee and North Carolina,” Snowden said. “It was absolutely wonderful and relaxing.”
Snowden devotes a majority of her time tutoring. She is in the Learning Center Monday from 1 p.m. through 5 p.m., Tuesday from 4 p.m. through 5 p.m., Wednesday from 9:30 p.m. through 3:30 p.m. and in the dorms Monday and Tuesday from 7 p.m. through 9 p.m. and Thursday from 7 p.m. through 8 p.m.

Amber Knepper

As a child, Amber Knepper played school with her sister to help her learn, so in order to share her ability to reach others, Knepper became a tutor for the Learning Center.
Knepper, a senior English major, has tutored at GC&SU for three years. She provides tutoring in math modeling and grammar. By volunteering at the Learning Center, Knepper helps students with their papers and makes sure that their paper has a pupose, as well as being well-written.
“My greatest success with tutoring was helping a student who had failed math modeling five times. The student came to me that semester and received a B in the class,” Knepper said. “I was insanely proud.”
To help students, Knepper determines the best way a student can learn so it makes sense to them.
“Some students do well going step-by-step through a problem and others find it easier to learn by asking questions,” Knepper said
One of the problems the Learning Center faces is a lack of funding. The tutors creatively staff themselves to help with this problem.
“Sometimes we have many students who come into the Learning Center at once. If we do not have enough tutors, we try to take as many students as we can who need help in the same areas,” Knepper said.
Knepper advises students to come to the Learning Center to get the attention they need.
“We’re fun to be around and great at our jobs,” Knepper said.
Knepper is an honor student and a member of Sigma Alpha, a social and experiential arena of the honor’s program. She serves as chair on the experiential learning committee, which provides opportunities for learning outside the classroom. Knepper is in the Learning Center Monday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. through 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. through 2 p.m.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 31 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry