Rachel Gonzalez

Biography

I enjoy sharing my passion for words, language, literature and writing with my students. I firmly believe that, no matter a student’s future academic career, the ability to express oneself whether on the page, in person, in another language, or as a public speaker are keys to success.

I was born in San Francisco and brought up on the East Coast outside of Washington D.C. I earned my BA degree in Spanish and Geography from Macalester College, a small liberal arts college in the Midwest. After graduating, I worked as a trainer and Director of Training and Development at a non-profit educational and youth leadership development organization in New York City. On a whim, I accepted a job in Denmark and spent several years in Copenhagen. During my time there, I studied Danish intensively and worked for two NGOs.

In addition to my BA, I have an MS degree in Organization Development from the University of San Francisco. After working for several years in consulting, HR, and recruiting, I decided that was not the career path for me, and I made my way back to the humanities—my first love.

At AJ Tutoring I specialize in teaching Spanish and English, but I also have experience teaching English as a Second Language to adult learners. As a teacher and tutor, I think it is important to develop a rapport with my students. I like to find out what their individual strengths and interests are and use this as a ‘jumping off point’ for our collaboration together. I always find that students are more engaged if they are working with subject matter that interests them. I firmly believe that sound thinking goes hand in hand with excellent writing. I encourage students to think first, brainstorm, write, and then revise as necessary. A first draft is not supposed to be good!

In my spare time, I like to swim, read, play NYT word games, and spend time with my family and friends.