Maya Gonzalez

Biography

Hello! My name is Maya Gonzalez, originally from southern California, and I am a recent graduate from the University of California (Santa Cruz). I’ve been a Spanish speaker basically since birth, and bilingual since the age of four, around when I enrolled in public school. While those first few years in school were not ones I remember being thrilled by, my attitude towards school and learning in general changed when I encountered my first love: reading (fiction).

Thanks to a little-known book series by the name of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I was hooked. I wanted to learn more about stories and how people made them. I wanted to learn about history and ancient myths. I wanted to learn about other cultures and languages and how those languages worked and evolved. Over time, I developed a deep curiosity for science and math, too, their histories being intertwined with all these other subjects. I could not learn enough about these subjects, and thankfully, my parents took notice.

I will always be grateful for the great care my parents took to foster this life-long love of literature, language, and just learning in general. It eventually led me to pursue my degree: Spanish Studies with a concentration in Literature and Linguistics as well as a TESOL certificate.

While I’m relatively new to tutoring from the teaching perspective(~300 total hours thus far), I am not new to the ins and outs of the tutoring process. Throughout my time as a student, I cannot count how many after-school programs, extracurriculars, and tutoring services I utilized, many of which ended up being invaluable to both my academic and personal growth and development. These experiences and more are what inspired me to pursue this line of work today.

I like the idea of passing on the torch of knowledge— I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for all the wonderful teachers, tutors, and mentors before me who did the same. Helping students get ahead and become more confident in themselves and their ability to learn and grow has proven to be an incredibly rewarding experience.

During the last six months since I graduated, I have been working mostly with K-8 Students in the subjects of ELA and Math. For mathematics, I have experience in tutoring most topics from elementary level arithmetic to algebra 1, geometry, and pre-calc. I also have experience going over 4th-8th grade English studies topics, focusing mostly on grammar, vocabulary, and helping students develop their reading comprehension skills. Here at AJ, I look forward to continuing to share my passion for learning and help students grow in English, Mathematics, and Spanish.

Outside of AJ, you can probably find me doing some sort of fiber or textile craft while listening to an audio-book ( assuming I am not spending time with my loving partner, family, and friends, that is).