I believe I was 9 Years old at the time in 4th grade.I Went to school uptown in 220th St. School year was half way done and all I could think about is spring break.I was facing issues with the subject math. I was always the kid that just wanted to work and not be bothered. Although there were times I was a class clown even when I didn’t try to be. Math can be a very difficult subject if you don’t pay attention and is really easy to fall behind on. There were times where I would listen to my teacher , teaching us and would just stare at him not knowing what he was saying .The thing is I would act like I know what im doing and just wait again until he explained it. Any time I needed help I just felt my body tense up and not have the balls to ask for help. At this young age I felt like I was never taught to not be shy. To not be afraid to ask for help. Therefore I consulted with my mom .Told her im really struggling with my grades dropping in math. First thing she said was “you need a tutor”. I was hesitant at first cause I thought it wasn’t a good idea. But I eventually agreed just for the fact that some of my friends attended as well. This tutor wasn’t a school tutor either. This was a tutor that happened to be very involved with the kids since her son went to the same school.Her name was Tonya. We would be tutored in her home which was not far at all from the school.
Everyday we would get a dollar slice pizza and eat before doing homework. Tonya really made all the kids including myself feel very welcomed at her house. Till this day I will always have her in my thoughts since she got me through one of those periods of my life where you need to break out your shell. It didn’t matter if we were learning division or multiplication or exponents. If I ever needed help she had no problem doing so. She made me feel relieved and I was able to ask for any type of help. She told me I should be able to ask her anything. I told her about my shyness problem. Tonya was really about to help me get out my comfort zone. We would talk in private for 5-10 minutes each time and she had always asked me is my problem getting better. Little did she know us doing these tutoring sessions was the reason I was coming out my shell in the first place. I told her when our tutoring sessions were done. Thank you. My grades eventually went up and surprisingly my favorite subject became math. Like I said earlier till this day I will always be thankful to my one and only tutor i’ve ever had . Tonya.
Daniel, I love getting more perspective about attending math class, why you felt like you did about being shy, and Tonya helping you out of your shell. It is a great and compelling character arc you are describing. Now, I’m hungry for the details! You are telling me what happened and why it was important, but you don’t go into very much detail about how (with the exception of the dollar slice, which is a great detail that shows how Tonya made you feel comfortable). Put yourself back in the shoes of yourself at age 9, what you noticed, what you were feeling. As you continue working on this piece, keep bringing your reader into the story.