Varun Chhabra

Biography

I have always had a love for hands-on experiences and knowledge with practical applications. Studying mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley allowed me to continue working with my hands and explore how to build cool things. With my students, I always try to connect concepts back to their real-world applications and what we can do with them. For example, we can look at derivatives as ways to measure changes in the real world: perhaps tracking a car traveling across the country. We can look at that car and calculate its speed based on derivatives. We can also calculate its acceleration using derivatives and the distance travelled using integrals. Now we have a real journey mapped out, rather than just graphs and calculations. 

In college, I loved participating in BEAM, Berkeley Engineers and Mentors, an organization which allowed me to teach hands-on science lessons to elementary school students. We taught potential and kinetic energy using marble rollercoasters, and reflection and refraction using a tube of water with a hand-drawn arrow which reversed direction when placed behind the water. My goal as a tutor is to inspire students to reach higher academically, motivating them with those hands-on science lessons and demonstrating practical applications of the subjects.

Which brings me to physics, a beautiful subject! For me, physics is all about the hands-on and real-world applications. Everything from forces to energy to circuits can be connected to the real world and what students can actually build with knowledge of the subject. Projectiles, satellites, springs, circuits, lenses, engines: all of these inventions came from understanding physics. 

l love my work tutoring physics and calculus, which are both rich subjects with lots of interesting topics and applications. Whether you tend toward the theoretical or the practical, these subjects have lasting appeal. 

In my free time, I love to play pickleball, build Legos, and play tabla, an Indian drum. Music is my biggest passion, both listening to and playing it.