Tutor in La Mesa, California

Hello! My name is Tiffany Chien, and I am a recent graduate from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor's of Architecture degree. I am currently pursuing a career in User Experience Design and Front End Web Development. I offer tutoring services in Math and Writing workshops for high school and college students. Throughout my undergraduate studies I earned high marks in Math classes, covering concepts such as Algebra, Precalculus and Geometry. I think a major misconception about Math is that to be good at Math is to memorize patterns and concepts; this often leads to feeling overwhelmed by the subject and evading it whenever we can. I like to approach math problems by understanding the logic behind the problems themselves and applying it to more tangible examples. In lower school, math problems were easier to understand because they were articulated through language that we were better able to understand: ie. "Sally has ten apples. If she gives three away, how many does she have left?" I feel confident that I will be able to help translate more complex algebraic and geometric problems into the same context to help you understand the logic of the concept and make you feel better prepared to tackle these problems on your own. Similarly to the way I approach math tutoring, I try to teach my tutees HOW to approach an essay rather than only focusing on benign problems such as vocabulary, which, admittedly, is still a key tool in producing good writing. My friends often ask me to proof read their thesis papers, cover letters, and application essays because of my keen eye for grammatical blunders and writing organization. In my own time, I have participated in many many writing workshops due to my avid interest in writing. I always approach writing workshops with empathy: I try to discuss and understand exactly what the core ideas and key phrases are that they writer wants to convey before jumping in and editing. My motto when editing a paper is to teach the writer how to approach the writing problem rather than just making changes for them. My goal in doing this is to help the writer reach clarity about their own ideas so that they may bring these thinking exercises into their future papers. I believe that being able to clearly articulate one's critical thoughts is a fundamental life skill that can be developed through good writing and will help one beyond the educational realm. I am a down-to-Earth and empathetic person who always strives to help people see and reach their best potential. I hope that I may aid you in achieving your goals, both short-term and long-term.