Abby Brown

Biography

I firmly believe learning is one of the greatest gifts of life. However, we can sometimes lose sight of the virtue of learning because of the stresses the education system can impose. Sometimes, we can get so downtrodden that we begin to doubt our ability to even learn a subject at all. What makes me particularly passionate about tutoring is that I can help a student build up their confidence so that they can see everything great learning has to offer.

Recently I graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Some of my favorite classes in college were math classes, something I never would have imagined when I was younger. Up until the end of high school, I was convinced I was not a “math person”. It’s hard to want to learn when you feel like you’re destined to fail in a subject. By the time I had to take the SAT in high school, I realized that the idea of being a “math person” or not is a really reductive way to approach learning. Taking the extra time to study for the test and really drill in some math fundamentals made me realize that I am not beholden to this fate I assigned myself just because I had some trouble. Everyone eventually struggles with some subject in school. This does not say anything about whether or not someone can succeed.

When I was in high school, I felt like the narrative around standardized tests was similarly nihilistic to the “math person” narrative. Kids felt like studying would mostly be futile, that their score was bound to be around their PSAT score. After successfully studying for the SAT, I realized just how absurd this messaging is, and decided to start tutoring some of my classmates. This tutoring experience showed me how rewarding teaching can be.

As such, I continued tutoring in college. I tutored a computer science course with the Learning Support Services at my university. From this experience, I developed a student-focused method of lesson planning. I would make a plan for each group session focusing on the week’s homework, and would encourage students to ask questions at the beginning of the session so that I could have an appropriate amount of time to address their concerns. To keep up to date with what students struggled with, I also held office hours and welcomed students to email me. Along with tutoring college students, I have also tutored middle and high school students at Mathnasium and The Coder School.

In my free time, I enjoy cooking, music production, playing guitar, and watching movies. I also love learning, particularly about history and vintage electronics.