My name is Cynthia De La Torre and I am one of the Tutoring Solution’s tutors.
Growing up I was always interested in learning, I loved to learn new ideas and concepts and to be able to implement the things I learned at school into my everyday life. I realized the power that I could gain through learning. My main passions were reading and drawing. I loved the wonderful worlds that these two things exposed me to and how I could create things out of thin air, by merely using my imagination. I could escape the perils of daily life by simply opening a book or taking out a piece of drawing paper and a pencil.
Because of these two wonderful gifts (art and reading) I was able to understand what wonders came from becoming a more knowledgeable individual. I was better able to develop my critical thinking abilities and to think “outside the box,” which, I believe, led to my success in school. Furthermore, because of my love for learning, I paid attention in class and genuinely tried to gain as much knowledge as possible, and soon enough I was enrolled in honors and AP classes. I excelled in pretty much every topic and graduated at the top of my class. However, I did not achieve this feat on my own; I greatly credit my success to the fact that my teachers saw my desire to learn and gave me a bit more of their time and encouragement.
Although this may sound unfair, having worked as a substitute for two years and doing three long terms in that time frame, I understand why teachers tend to pay more attention to the overachievers (as well as the underachievers), while tending to ignore the ones in the middle. The overachievers are what make being a teacher gratifying, because they are eager to learn and they fully commit to learning, while the underachievers have a tendency of acting out, causing the teachers to have to deal with their behavior. Sadly enough, this often leaves the kids in the middle ignored, which leads to my point, which is that tutoring is essential, especially for these “middle” kids, because they need that extra one on one time with a knowledgeable individual. I often felt so guilty about not being able to offer individual help to each student, that when the opportunity to become a tutor arose, I jumped at it. My hope is that I will be able to give those kids, who lack one on one time with their educators, that extra time. It has proven a lot more rewarding than being a long term sub, because I finally get to work individually with students who just need a bit more instruction. It is great to see the joy in their eyes when they realize they have learned and to see how empowered they feel.
Even though, my original intent was to work for a human rights organization (I graduated with a Bachelors in Sociology and a Minor in Spanish from Cal Poly Pomona), I realized that my overall goal in life was to help others. Thanks to tutoring, I have found that there is nothing more rewarding than to share with others the gift of knowledge.