I discovered my passion for education while at UC Berkeley, where I was lucky to be part of an extremely collaborative learning environment while studying both physics and mathematics. Working closely with other students helped me tremendously, as I gained new insights, approaches, and perspectives on math and science topics. I often found that adopting a different perspective would help me work through challenging problems. Thus, it has become my goal to provide students with alternate modes of thinking about important topics to help deepen their perspective and understanding.

In college, I began tutoring students in a wide range of subjects: especially Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry. Being a successful tutor requires intimate knowledge of the material, such that it can be presented in many different ways, as what makes intuitive sense to one student might not be the best explanation for another. I pride myself on finding new ways to both explain concepts and make them personally relevant and fun. My goal is to work collaboratively with students and nurture their intuition and confidence so that their reaction is to think critically when presented with problems, and thus become more independent problem solvers.

I’ve also expanded my expertise over many years to include supporting students in standardized testing, helping many students to prepare for their SAT, ACT, GRE and GMAT. In all of these tests, I’ve logged official scores in the top percentile and am glad to be able to share the experience with my students! Personalized coaching, combined with AJ’s powerful methods and materials, can make a monumental difference on these critical exams, and hence, in students’ lives. This makes our test preparation programs extremely rewarding for tutor and student alike.

After many years of full-time tutoring experience, I am excited to be living and working in the area where I grew up with a truly wonderful group of students and tutors. I am also excited to be serving as the director of our Menlo Park office, and overseeing a truly world class team of tutors.

Outside of the AJ offices, you can find me on extremely long hikes or backpacking in the woods. I also enjoy playing all sorts of games, reading, gardening, and listening to music and podcasts.