Random observation #83:
It’s much easier to tutor someone when you’re not distracted by the repeating thought, “Ewww! What’s that smell?” That happened twice this morning. It made it rather more challenging to hang around until the student really understood the problem.
Aside from that, tutoring is going well. The three- or four-hour shift flies by, with barely a chance to breathe between questions. The majority of the questions seem to be linear algebra (y = mx + b, people! C’mon, say it along with me, y = mx + b.), with a scattering of Chemistry, Physics and Calculus. I had to bail on one vector Calculus problem this morning (man, it’s been too long), but otherwise I handled everything that was thrown at me.
I’m seeing a pattern where someone will ask for help and when a tutor comes over the student meekly asks, “Can I wait until he (pointing to me) is free?” I’m simultaneously:
- flattered that what I’m doing seems to be working for people
- nervous that I’m helping the students more than other tutors, maybe doing too much of the problem for the student
- worried that other tutors will get resentful of me
That’s something I need to keep an eye on.
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