Three non-academic ways tutoring benefited me:
Calmer home.
My first tutor was for physics in high school. I had already switched to the “easy” physics class, and still found myself struggling. My parents hired a student a year ahead of me who was strong in physics, and we met in the library each week after school. As soon as I started meeting with her, the environment at home was calmer because my parents knew I was getting help, so my success in physics was no longer their direct responsibility. There was someone else to help me with this, who was cool, and most importantly, not my parent.
Giving myself grace.
The next tutoring experience I remember was in college. I was struggling with some research methods concepts in my statistics class, so I went to my school’s tutoring center. The tutor was not incredibly helpful, but knowing a *grad student* was struggling with the same concepts gave me a boost that I was learning hard things! It was OK if they didn’t click immediately.
Asking for help as a practice.
I’m still learning to ask for help, now rarely in an academic sense. It can be hard to say we need help. Asking for help is vulnerable, and I’m sure many of us would prefer the feeling of autonomy that we can do it all on our own. Reaching out for academic help is like “flexing the muscle” of seeking help in general so that we feel more empowered to do it again in the future.
Have you recently asked for help? Send me a note and share how it went!