Many many years ago. Im talking like almost a decade ago, I know i’m getting old. I went to school at Ps/Ms/278. A school in uptown near 220th St where I would also be raised around in the same neighborhood. It was a point at time in school where it was almost spring break and all the kids and I could just think about being being home and playing videos. Sadly their were issues going on that I thought weren’t major until I seen the grade I had in math. I was on the verge of failing with the 64 percent grade I had. I knew I only had 2 weeks left of school and I didn’t want to let my mom down with the grade I had. My mom is the most important person in my life and just to hear her say say ” i’m disappointed” or ” you could’ve done better” would actually hurt me. Especially at the age I was which was 9 years old in the 4th grade. You know how that goes , when you’re young your emotions and feelings can get hurt pretty easily. So I told my mom I needed help and she referred me to a local tutor. Before I proceed quick question. Am I the only one that just be in class listening to the teacher and actually tryna to focus and learn but you still don’t know what he/she’s saying? Like I swear I actually try and tried in math class but I just couldn’t get a grasp of what to do in math.I acted like I knew what I was doing but in reality I needed help.

 

Anytime I ever needed help in class my body would tense up and I wouldn’t have the balls to ask for help.At this young age I felt I was never taught to not be scared. That me speaking up is a normal thing and it is nothing to be ashamed of at all. This is when I consulted my mom and she once told me ” you need a tutor”. I was really hesitant at first but I only agreed because some of my friends attended this tutor as well. This was not a tutor where you get tutored at school either. She was like a friendly neighborhood tutor who helped kids at our school for the fact that her son attended my school as well. We weren’t far from the school. My tutor’s name was Tonya. Everyday before tutoring we would get 1$ pizza. I know this wasn’t healthy but me and all friends before tutoring, it felt like a tradition to just eat a pizza before homework. Moving on Tonya really made all the kids including myself feel very welcomed when we entered her home. Till this day I will always be grateful since she got me through one of those periods of time of my life where you need to break out your shell.It didn’t matter if we were learning multiplication, division, or exponents. If I ever needed help she had no problem doing so. She made me feel relieved since she understood I needed help. Like why was I there in the first place? It’s just the way she went about it. She would always tell me ask if I ever needed any help.I as well told her about my shyness.Tonya as well helped me with speaking up. She really took me out my comfort zone. We would talk in private for 5-10 minutes after every tutor session and she would ask how i’m doing ? Or am I speaking up more? Am I doing better in school? Little did she know us doing these little talking sessions took a big part on me being able to talk more freely.

 

Weeks have passed and spring break was a day away and we got progress reports. I know it might not be great in your eyes but I went from a 64% grade to a 72%. I remember like it was yesterday next school period coming back from spring break I ended with a 87% grade in math. On top of all this surprisingly my favorite subject turned out to be math. You could say my mom should get all the credit since she is the one who referred me to Tonya in the first place. I would give her half credit but Tonya is the one who helped me with math and took my out my shell.I would always be grateful to Tonya for everything she had done for me in that 4th grade. Thank you Tonya.