Thursday, March 5, 2020

Volunteering With Tutorfair - Snehas Story

Volunteering With Tutorfair - Sneha's Story Sneha S is a registered Tutorfair  tutor and has completed a volunteer placement for the Tutorfair Foundation.  Read her story  below..... Being a Masters student in London usually means long hours in the library, essays that will make your head hurt and one too many existential crises. It also means you yearn to step out of your academic lifestyle and do something different. For me, this welcome respite came in the form of Tutorfair. Having seen advertisements of the company pop up on my social media, I finally decided to give it a go and I am so glad I did. Tutorfair is an educational company that provides you with the opportunity to help tutor students and adults of all ages to improve their subjects. These subjects range from sports to academics and you have the luxury of choosing as many subjects as you wish to tutor once you sign up to this website. Excited and a tad bit nervous, I got down to business and started my own profile on the website which was quite simple, that coming from a technologically challenged person like me, is a big deal ! Once I had signed up, I was greeted with a warm welcome mail and an invitation to a seminar hosted by the company in partnership with Teach First, one of the leading educational organisations attempting to end educational inequality in London. The training day  provided two massive benefits. For one, it taught you and educated you, the tutor, about how to improve your teaching skills and your interactions with the students. It also speeded up your verification process on the website. So, on a not so sunny London morning, I headed to the training day, curious and ready to participate in everything it had to offer. It was a wonderful experience to say the least. I was made aware of the huge disparities in education in the city and learnt a plethora of ways to not just intermingle with the students but also make the syllabus more interesting. I got to learn how to pick up on subtle clues about students who might not be coming from the most stable of homes and how to deal with them without hurting or causing harm to the students and also got to practice the newly learned methods. The training day  also gave me the chance to network with other tutors who not only came from all different spheres of life but also had loads of experiences of their own to share. The entire day  was fascinating and I would do it all over again, if given the chance. Once I had completed the training, I was invited to the Tutorfair office, where I was provided with a more detailed description as to how the company and website works. I understood the ropes of the company and was delighted to stumble across two adorable pets roaming around in the office. Hurray for all the animal lovers !! Amidst talking to the other newly signed tutors and munching on delicious snacks, we were led to a small room one by one where we were videotaped. This video allows for a more personal network between the client and tutor, providing the client with a little more information regarding the tutor they might possibly book. Before I knew it, my profile was live on the website. The company gives the tutors the luxury of choosing the rate per hour at which they would like to tutor and also choose the timings for when they are available. Having one or two or more references makes the profile even more attractive and welcoming and soon, I was caught up in the world of tutoring. There are times when it can get challenging, parents worried about their children’s performances might need reassuring and at times even the children need to be constantly reminded that their hard work and dedication will pay off. Providing incentive, confidence and encouragement is key along with a constant stream of patience and motivation. For me, applying to Tutorfair was one of the best decisions I could have made. Not only did it give me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and submerge myself in the world of academics from a different point of view but it also gave me the chance to give back by volunteering and by sharing the knowledge I had amassed. The feeling you experience when your student succeeds is indescribable and irreplaceable, almost like drinking hot chocolate on a very cold day. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy and you can’t help but hide that goofy smile and the contagious exhilaration that your student exudes upon succeeding. So go ahead, click on that link and sign up. Give volunteering with Tutorfair a try, I promise you, it will be worth every minute. Get Involved with The Tutorfair Foundation

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