As the spring semester comes to a close, the Tutoring Services center in the Communications Building seeks students to become tutors in the fall. Tutors provide many services to students seeking help. 

With a new semester starting, Sabrina Simpson, director of new student orientation and coordinator of Tutoring Services, said tutors are beneficial to many students’ time in college. 

“Tutoring is often an important part of a student’s education,” Simpson said. “A tutor is someone who generally works one-on-one with a student to provide remedial, enrichment or other support. Our goal is to help students build the skills and confidence they need to be successful in their coursework and in their personal pursuits.”

Simpson said the tutoring center is currently taking applications for any student who falls within the requirements for tutoring. 

“In order to apply to be a tutor, a student must have earned an A or B in the course(s) they wish to tutor, and they must have a minimum 3.0 GPA,” Simpson said. “Students can stop by the Tutoring Center, ask questions and pick up the application to apply, or email me [email protected] with any questions they may have.”

Sabel Meadows, a current tutor and senior premed and biology major, said tutoring has given her a chance to give back and stay up to date on her own material. 

“A lot of students see their grades improve after coming to tutoring,” Meadows said. “It also helps the tutors stay fresh on material, and it is a really rewarding experience for all of us. I think it kind of gives students a place to go and feel like they have support.”

There is a lot that goes into being a tutor, Meadows said. Having many roles, tutors provide an array of services to students. 

“We do anything from helping make study guides for students, to teaching them how to study because a lot of students do not know how to do that after high school,” Meadows said. “We also can do homework problems with students as a guide, but we do not do homework for them. We help battle test anxiety as well.”

With all the ways tutors can help students, Isabella Mays, a junior biology major and chemistry minor, said her experience was positive, and she would like to see more tutors for the upcoming semester. 

“I went to the tutoring center because I was struggling in a chemistry class and I knew we had free tutoring services on campus,” Mays said. “I really liked the tutor I got paired up with. He was really helpful and was able to break things down for me, and I found the one-on-one time to be really beneficial.”

Taking on the role of a tutor has both its personal gains, as well as feeling good about helping those around you, Meadows said. 

“For one, it is a really good resume builder,” said Meadows. “It also makes me so happy to see my student light up and come in and say, ‘Hey, I just passed my exam.’ Feeling that sense of, ‘Hey, I really made a difference in this person’s life,’ you do not really realize it at the time, but when they come in and are happy, you really do feel that way.”

Meredith O’Bara can be contacted at [email protected].