My story as an academic tutor

I know that it is a big commitment to trust someone with your academic success. You are already spending a significant amount on your tuition fees, struggling to complete your assignments, and do not know exactly what you need.  So let me tell you my story. 

I knew by the time that I was 12 that I wanted to attend university. No, I was not thinking of the career opportunities that would be opened to me. I just loved reading and learning, particularly about history and anything that exposed my young mind to diverse cultures. I remember this particularly large book about the Holocaust (filled with lots of pictures) from the library that I read for months. This book sparked my fascination with war, genocide, displacement, and refugees, which was further developed through my master's and PhD research. 

I excelled throughout high school. I was not at the top of my class, but I consistently received As, for which I was immensely proud since I did all my assignments during school hours. I was in for a rude awakening by the time I attended university. I assumed that I could put in the same amount of limited effort into my studies as I did in high school and that my ‘natural intelligence’ would carry me through. 

Not only was I barely passing all my classes, but I was also put in a remedial writing class to catch me up with my peers. I felt that my entire education so far had been a lie, that I had been tricked into committing to a university degree, and I was going into a lifetime of debt for the privilege. 

I was terrified of talking to my professors or asking for help in fear that they would immediately see that I did not belong in university. I did not talk in class because I was afraid that someone would tell me that I was stupid. I only did single drafts of my essays and hoped that they would be good enough. I did everything that I tell my students today not to do, and I prayed that it would be good enough. No one told me how to do well in university, and I was forced to figure it out for myself in agony. 

Eventually, I found anthropology, without a doubt, the subject of study that I was destined for. It was my passion and interest that carried me through the lengthy process of trial and error, as I slowly learned from my mistakes. The writing and study skills that I instruct my students on today I developed as survival strategies through my PhD. As much as I love what I was studying, I needed a better system than just slogging through and hoping that I would eventually get it right. 

After a few years of teaching, I began to realise that the things that I struggled with during my undergraduate and master's studies were far more common than I had initially thought. It was not just me! I know it sounds silly, but seeing my students struggle with essay writing was oddly reassuring and helped me connect with them on a much deeper level. I realised that my experiences of struggling with academic writing were not unique but incredibly common. I was not the exception but the rule. My students were making the same mistakes repeatedly, and although I could see them now, I also understand why they were making them. No one teaches students the basics! It took me a decade to figure it out for myself when it could have been directly taught. 

So that is what I aim to do for my students. I teach the unwritten rules of academic writing that all your teachers assume that you already know, but mark you down when you do not. I teach my students to find the right resources, think critically about them, maximise word count, and build structure into their essays. Most importantly, I teach my students how to learn about new topics, communicate their ideas, and collaborate intellectually with others.  These are the skills you need to succeed in your university studies, which no one else is teaching.