Author: djuarez1 (Page 6 of 7)

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.

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.

One specific incident that changed the way I viewed education was when I was exactly  in  the 4th grade. There was a point in time where I was consistently struggling in math. I just had a hard time processing math problems and I needed serious help. If im being honest though I was afraid to ask for help and was really shy which didn’t help.It’s not that I was afraid of participating but I was afraid of asking for help. I told my mom about my troubles with math and she recommended a tutor. I actually thought it was a bad idea but I only agreed because some of my friends attended with the tutor. It was a lady named Tonya that tutored us and 4 other of my friends that attended it. I was shy of course but a couple of sessions in I felt very comfortable within our circle. As I said before I was scared to ask for help but my tutor made me feel comfortable, she made me feel a way where I wouldn’t feel dumb. She would tell me repeatedly its ok to ask for help. Nobody has the right to judge you for not knowing A  answer. On top of all this I actually started doing better in my class. Surprisingly math actually became my favorite subject later on in school.

Overall my point is its never A bad thing to rely on someone for help. Even talking to your parents about this can help you , like it did for me. If i had never told my mom in the first place I probably would have never had help and I wouldn’t have liked math in general. Just imagine yourself in whatever subject you hate and you never asked your teacher for help not once. Then all of a sudden , once a stranger to you can be a huge help to you. A person just coming into your life and makes you feel comfortable with asking questions. Being able to ask how do I simplify or divide exponents.  This affects the way you are in class as well. I wasn’t as shy to ask questions in class and this was all because of a tutor. I will always be grateful to Tonya because she really helped me get through a time where I have never struggled and struggling with work was new to me.