The Evolution of a Novice Tutor - Megan McMahon

The Evolution of a Novice Tutor

The Past

Flashback to late September. As I walked through the halls, the unmistakable atmosphere of teenagers who have just returned to school surrounded me. You know what I’m talking about; a practically tangible mix of dread, fatigue, and anxiety. I was about to enter my sixth period classroom at the very front of the building, more commonly referred to as the West Springfield Writing Center. Although I wouldn’t admit it back then, I was extremely nervous.

Flashback even further to the second semester of my freshman year. I was sitting in my bedroom, clinging onto a hardcopy of my Advanced Composition application.

Can I really do this? 

My hands shook as I put it back down for the seventeenth time. I returned to the email containing my final application on my computer, closed my eyes, held my breath, and pressed send, accepting the fact that it was all over. Whatever happened, happened. I either got in, or I didn’t.

But, then again, that wasn’t really the issue. The real issue was this: What if I did get in? I didn’t know the first thing about tutoring, aside from tutoring a second grader. Second grade writing isn’t exactly the same as high school writing.

Needless to say, I began to obsess. If my application did in fact get accepted, I wanted to at least have an idea about what I was going to be doing. And so, I began to utilize my free time and occasional sleepless nights to reading countless websites explaining how to be a writing tutor (Here’s one of my favorites: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/esl/teaching-resources/tips-for-writing-tutors/). Good thing I did because, fortunately, I celebrated my acceptance into the class a few months later.

Anyway, back to late September. We are about to begin our very first tutoring session; well, a practice session among the tutors within the class. I was paired with my mentor tutor: the one-and-only Autumn Barraclough. 

To put it simply, it was, well, not simple. Autumn made sure that I encountered every possible situation that could ever go wrong during a tutoring session, including her having a complete mental breakdown. Pile all of that on top of the fact that I hardly knew her, didn’t know how to tutor very well, and was beyond nervous, and you’ve got yourself a complete disaster. As you can imagine, it was a rough twenty minutes for me.

Moral of the story, tutoring can be extremely difficult. At least I can say that whenever I am struggling through a session with a tutee, I can think back to that experience and realize it’s not so bad after all.

The Present

First of all, my tutoring is definitely not perfect. In fact, it is far from perfect, and that’s okay! I love that not only can I look back and see how far I’ve come since my first tutoring session, but I can also eagerly look ahead at how much more I have to grow as a tutor in the time to come.

Tutoring has taught me how to take things as they come and work with whatever is thrown at me. I’ve learned how to think on the spot, work hard (even on the most difficult days), and push through the rough patches. I’ve learned how to interact with people of all different kinds, smile during my most clueless moments, and brush off any and all awkwardness. I’ve grown so much over the past several months, and a large part of that is due to my experiences as a tutor.

The Future

Okay, secret’s out, I can’t predict the future. What I can do, though, is work as hard as I possibly can now in order to set myself up for success later.

If all goes well, not only will my tutoring improve, but so will I as a person. Tutoring is not simply revising essays and editing grammar errors; tutoring is being able to make friends with  complete strangers, speak your opinion without hesitation, and have unbreakable confidence in yourself.

Thanks so much for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at memcmahon2@gmail.com.