Krysta Beam

Story has consistently been the universal foundation of the human experience since time immemorial, and I have long been drawn to narrative, fascinated by its creation and dissemination and the power it wields to transform chaos into order. 

This curiosity has been the catalyst for my undergraduate and graduate studies. I graduated with a BA in history, political science, and cross-cultural studies from Greenville University, a Free Methodist institution in my hometown, Greenville, Illinois. I went on to earn an MA in Latin American and Caribbean studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MA in history at the University of Pittsburgh, where I am currently a PhD candidate in history. 

I was born and raised in a modest agricultural town in the Midwest, and through the pursuit of academics, I have had the opportunity to live a significant portion of my life in Costa Rica and in multiple US cities, working with some of the most prestigious institutions in my field. 

I began teaching and tutoring immediately after high school when I moved to Costa Rica; my first jobs were teaching English and tutoring literacy for both adults and children in rural Costa Rica. After graduating with my BA, I began working as an adjunct professor for an Intensive English Language Program where I helped prepare incoming international students for university study. I have also held a position as literacy and GED tutor for Spanish-speaking inmates at a Federal Corrections Institute. I have found sharing the gift of learning in a collaborative setting with a liberatory ethos to be especially rewarding.

Because I entered the University of Pittsburgh with 10 years of teaching experience, I was peer-elected teaching assistant mentor for the Department of History at Pitt for two consecutive years before leaving campus for field research. As TA mentor, I helped plan and execute classes on pedagogy for my colleagues and served as the first point of contact for TAs with questions about class management, pedagogy, grading, planning, and more. I was also awarded an institutional year-long fellowship for excellence in teaching, the Carolyn Chambers Memorial Fellowship. While at Pitt, I have taught US History I and II, Early Modern European History, World War II in Europe, Latin American History (in English and in Spanish), and World History.

I am thrilled to support high school students with history, English, Spanish, and study skills. As a first-generation, rural student, I have first-hand experience of empowerment through refining academic skills. Study can and does open portals to new worlds of existence. I enjoy connecting with students and sharing skills that translate not only to academic success, but also to the possibility of contributing to building our world. Those with conscious awareness, narrative and analytical skills, and discipline are those fortunate enough to write their own stories, and that is true empowerment.

Outside of tutoring, I enjoy film and cinema, classic Latin American novels, and poetry. When I am not working on my dissertation, I love to spend my free time outdoors and am always open to hiking and camping tips and recommendations, especially as I explore the Bay Area as my new home.