Ned Eyre

Biography

I’ve long been a learner.  It is only recently that I have begun to understand that learning and teaching are fundamentally linked.  It seems obvious in retrospect; the subjects that I knew best were the subjects where I was able to help others the most.  Time and time again, I found that when I was the happiest was when I could help somebody else to understand, and in doing so, bettering my own understanding.  And so, I decided to pursue tutoring, and never regretted it for a second.

I was born and raised in Portola Valley, California, and still have a close connection to home.  From there, I attended Menlo School, graduating in 2020.  It was there that I first discovered my passion for learning.  Growing up in the Bay Area meant that I understood a lot of the pressures and struggles of local students, and I know just how hard it can be.   After graduating high school during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I went to Cal Poly SLO to pursue my bachelor’s in mechanical engineering.  There I learned the value of cooperation.  When it’s 11pm in the mechatronics laboratory, everybody helps where they can, and you do your best to reciprocate.  Learning is often a team effort, and it usually takes lots of time.  I graduated in 2024 and decided to try and tutor while I apply to master’s programs.

As a mechanical engineer, physics was always in the forefront of my education.  Physics were the governing rules of my major, and every simplification and assumption we made needed to be grounded in cold, hard, fact.  This drilled in me the importance of not just understanding the mechanics but understanding the underlying properties and decisions that went into it.  I believe that physics is key to our understanding of our world and find that that belief can easily be lost in young students.  I want to ignite that spark of curiosity within students, to pry into the underlying mechanics of the world.

However, there is far more to understanding the world than the hard sciences.  In high school, I had the luck to have an English teacher who transformed my understanding of the literary world.  She showed me the hundreds of little tricks and games our favorite authors used to add depth and meaning to their stories; the hidden undercurrents that formed the true narrative.  I had long considered myself a poor essayist, but that all changed over the course of a single marvelous class.  My English teacher showed me the power of a strong mentor, and I hope to one day make the same impact on my own students.

I know one of the greatest stressors to high school students today is standardized testing.  The SAT represents the perfect mix for high stress: it is crucial to college admissions, it requires long hours of preparation, and it requires cool-headed execution on test day.  But ultimately, nearly every student has the skills they need to perform well.  Math and reading aren’t the hard part; it’s the thousands of tricks the SAT plays on its students.  I was tutored for the SAT at AJ, and it was here that I understood that the SAT is as much of a test of how well you understand the SAT as it is a test of your knowledge.  I hope that I can share my experiences to help my students get around all the nonsense and truly showcase their knowledge.

I believe that many students today get wrapped up in procedure.  From math, to science, to writing, everything is broken down into steps.  And for the students who memorize those steps, they can be successful in class.  But ultimately, true learning comes from understanding the “why”.  Every equation means something.  Students gain nothing if they gloss over that understanding in the chase to finish the problem set.  I hope to share with my students that “why”, help them to understand the steps of the problem-solving process, and master the fundamental ideas that drive true comprehension.  In 1-on-1 meetings, I can shape my teaching to best suit the needs of the students.  If they struggle with comprehension and background theory, we can cover it.  If they are having problems integrating theory into practice, we will work on that too.  Tutoring gives complete freedom to tailor lessons to a student’s needs.

Outside of the academic world, I have several hobbies.  I love to hike and walk.  Growing up in Portola Valley, I had plenty of opportunities to enjoy the beauty of our own local nature.  Once I moved to SLO for school, I made a point to continue this hobby.  There was nothing better to solve class induced stress than hiking Cerro San Luis Obispo in the morning fog.  Indoors, I enjoy playing video games, and engaging in elaborate digital worlds and stories with my friends.  I also greatly enjoy reading, and I often find myself lost in fantasy and science fiction.