"I am passionate about mathematics, and equally passionate about developing my students’ comfort with, enthusiasm for, and proficiency in the subject.

I bring the same spirited interest in mathematics and its teaching to all of my meetings, with everyone from the middle school student for whom fractions are not yet intuitive, to the high schooler who becomes suddenly lost and cannot gain a foothold in the abstraction of algebra or geometry, to the college student who is intimidated by calculus and just needs someone to make it look more inviting than imposing.

I’ve been tutoring math since I was 17, when I worked regularly with a classmate in a different calculus class. We both learned a lot about math that year. In the 22 years since, I have worked with countless students under countless circumstances. I’ve learned how to quickly size up what a student needs and how best to communicate with him or her. If there are gaps in a student’s math background that continue to haunt and hound, we can fill them in while building on the secure ground we establish. If a student is simply not grasping concepts despite all their best efforts, I can find the approach and language that produces the “aha” moment when an important piece clicks into place and other pieces can then follow suit. If a student’s confusion is creating confidence issues that only promote deeper confusion, I am good at creating a safe atmosphere where a student can at least feel somewhat comfortable with their discomfort with math, enabling us to start moving toward a more self-assured place. If there is an apathetic or even negative attitude toward math in particular, typically being around someone who could not be more genuinely enthusiastic about the subject is enough to offset these influences and open a student up to a positive experience. And if there are no issues per se, if a student just wants to broaden and enrich their experience in mathematics, there are few things I like to do more than share the intrigue and elegance of mathematics.

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