I started tutoring on a lark and quickly discovered that I love explaining things. But it’s not really just about explaining things. It’s about helping people get where they’re going and sharing a moment in time with them as they work toward something important. I find that process fun, exciting, and endlessly fascinating.

One thing that always vexed me early in my own learning journey was struggling with something, sometimes for hours, only to eventually discover that it was actually quite simple. It just hadn’t been explained simply. Being the person who can help a student have that moment of realization, and find a quick, intuitive way to understand something that had seemed impossibly complicated, is an amazing feeling.

I also believe that learning works better when there is some joy in it. When students are having fun, they’re more engaged, more curious, and more willing to wrestle with something they don’t immediately understand. That doesn’t mean they have to love algebra, grammar, or every SAT question. Part of my job is helping them see why learning one particular thing can help them in so many other ways, and why even something they don’t particularly enjoy can still be an exciting part of where they’re going.

That also means finding explanations that are unique to the student. I’m always looking for a way to connect an idea to how that particular student sees the world, sometimes in a way that is funny, unexpected, or completely different from how it appears in a textbook. Teaching isn’t simply repeating the same explanation until a student understands it. Sometimes you have to reimagine the idea from an entirely new perspective.

That process keeps teaching exciting for me, too. Every student forces me to think a little differently, find a new explanation, and continue learning as an educator. Helping students find easier, clearer ways to understand things and move forward in their own journeys has become my life’s passion. Without passion, none of this works.