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Our Tutors
Madeline Nelson
Madeline is a University of Central Florida Knight! She's has extensive tutoring experience with students of all ages - even upper level sciences including anatomy and physiology, chemistry, and biology, upper level math including calculus, algebra 1 & 2, trigonometry, and geometry, and even experience with SAT! She's hoping to one day have a career working with students! She firmly believes building a strong academic foundation is paramount to the future success of students and for overall self-confidence. She cites, "By being able to solve problems and learn efficiently, students learn they can do anything they set their minds to!"Her favorite subjects are history, reading, and science! She is adept in working with all learners, but personally, she's a visual-spatial learner! She once told us, she could hear the pythagorean theorem 100 times over, but until she writes it, she probably won't retain it! She's knowledgeable, empathetic, and hard working! She will always put her best foot forward to figure out how to assist our students and meet their needs in any way she can!
Adam Farrow
Adam is a current student at the University of Central Florida! He's always had a passion for helping students to excel, particularly when it requires him to think outside of the box and get creative with strategies he can use with his current students! Adam has always had a passion for helping students in subjects such as math and science. He has found that particularly for himself, he was able to overcome roadblocks during his time in primary school/high school by working with tutors who could simply present material in a different way for him, often times offering a different perspective so it could "click"! He now enjoys being that resource for students of his own! Adam completed Calculus at the University of Central Florida with a 99% and achieved a 48/50 on the data structures part of the foundation exam given at UCF. While in school, Adam adopted the philosophy that when he was presented with a difficult course, it only meant that he needed to spend extra time on reviewing materials and perhaps consult with outside resources! He enjoys overcoming student's mental barriers with them as they approach "tricky" courses, providing them with plenty of resources, insight, and even strategies to reframe their thinking when they approach challenges or specific questions that stump them!
Madison Smith
Madison is a current student at the University of Central Florida graduating this December as an Interdisciplinary Studies (Pre-law) major and taking a gap year before attending law school in Central Florida! She is a current PeerKnights & ACE Coach, volunteering some of her time outside of class in the UCF Student Learning and Academic success center. She's also President of the UCF Greek Council, co-founder of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at UCF, and a current Nominee for Order of pegasus (the highest Undergraduate honor at the University of Central Florida). As a pre-law major, Madison thrives in all things ELA and SAT/ACT Prep but is also highly qualified to tutor math up through Algebra 1 and 2! Claudia's passionate about tutoring because she loves inspiring students and celebrating with them when they overcome obstacles or barriers and ace their tests with flying colors! She loves a good report after test days when she reconvenes with her students! Having been extremely involved all through high school and college, she is great at helping our students stay organized and develop "study skills" that will take them far in their academic careers. Madison takes a participative approach in her tutoring sessions and believes in getting to the root cause of frustrations and setbacks so they don't "bleed" over into other courses or into future assessments/assignments. Having worked at College orientation at UCF for two years, she's very familiar with the transition and requirements of students from high-school to college involving AP coursework, Dual-enrollment credits, and College placement tests. She has also volunteered in elementary classrooms with students ranging from those far below grade level, those at or above grade level, and those with special needs. In this role, she lead classroom activities and worked one-on-one with students needing extra assistance in specific subject areas. Madison sees the "long-term" goal when she works with a student and tries to help them see it too. She cites, "Helping a student excel in a specific subject is important, but preparing them for their future educational ventures as they prepare for college and entering the workforce is the key component to keeping them motivated and goal-oriented".
Jack Morgan
Jack is a University of Central Florida Student and UCF athlete! He is passionate about education and helping students overcome educational hurdles in creative ways! He's a natural with students having had many years experience volunteering with them as a tutor and as a coach! For Adam, tutoring has always been valuable; growing up, he needed consistent tutoring and wants to now give back to students! He loves having a positive impact on the students he works with and role models the professionalism, grace, and knowledge that previous tutors showed him. He enjoys a good challenge! He loves figuring out "how a student thinks" and works hard to tailor each tutoring session to a student's specific needs and learning styles so his teachings can resonate and "click"! Seeing his student's progress is one of his favorite parts of the job -- for Jack, tutoring is incredibly rewarding and gives him a sense of pride! He's a great example of a successful student who prioritized his studies, seeking out help when needed, so that he could also play sports! Jack's favorite subjects to tutor are reading and math. He works hard to help his students with time management as this was a key component of his success. He understands the difference between a great tutor and a mediocre tutor and holds himself to a very high standard!
Cristina Tran
Cristina is currently a student at the University of Central Florida. She’s tutored for over four years (grades K-12), scored in the 99th percentile of her peers on the SAT, and is an honors student at UCF! Need I say more?! Her greatest joy has always been bringing joy to others’ lives. She proclaims, “Being a tutor makes her feel valued and needed, and by helping students, she’s able to lift a weight off their back, however big or small”. Whenever Cristina is around our students, she’s always smiling! She’s always enjoyed tutoring math biology the most because she finds that those are the “lesser enjoyed” subjects, and she enjoys the challenge of finding innovative ways to make the subjects easier and even fun, to both understand and study. Cristina is notorious for bestowing her impeccable linguistic skills onto some of our students needing english tutoring as well! When she was a student, she always ensured she was communicating with her peers and educators to assist her with organizing her workload, time management, and seeking out additional help when needed. Cristina values one-on-one instruction, planning, creating lists, etc. and finds herself instilling these similar habits in her students!
Alex Evison
Alex is an undergraduate student from the University of Central Florida. He has tutored for over 4 years now and specializes in upper level math and science tutoring. Alex is a firm believer in investing in the leaders of tomorrow through education as they will be the ones taking care of and leading us! Alex's has been a stellar math student for as long as he can remember; from a very young age, Alex remembers being able to do math quicker and more accurately than his peers. As a result, he frequently finished earlier than his classmates and would allocate his "extra time" to helping them or other students needing assistance. During his freshman year of High School, he took on the role of "TA" for his Algebra 2 class and continued tutoring since. He finds math the easiest subject to explain as it's concrete and based on logic, but Alex loves that math allows for creativity in that he can help a student arrive at the same answer using a variety of methods -- he finds that if one method isn't working for a student, there's generally another that he can think of! When Alex was in school, he was able to be successful by asking questions (to his tutors and teachers); as a result, Alex does a stellar job at creating an environment for our students where they can feel comfortable asking any questions they may have.
Toby Johnson
Toby, a UCF knight and exceptional team member of ours has been tutoring for over 5 years!! Toby has thoroughly enjoyed helping students over the years learn and grow not only as student, but as individuals! He believes that, "there is nothing more gratifying than seeing that 'aha' moment " when going over material with one of his students -- whether that be in math, english, science, or test prep! Likewise, he likes that tutoring challenges him to stay current. In his free time, Toby is creating lesson plans and researching new ways to convey otherwise "tricky" subjects to our students! Toby enjoys tutoring Math and Science most as they are the two subjects he finds to be most stimulating and engaging, yet finds both to be extremely rewarding when challenges can be overcome! Toby is known for working with the "disinterested" student and helping them to cultivate an authentic interest in the subjects they're struggling with by making the subject engaging, entertaining, and most importantly applicable to real-world scenarios! When toby would struggle in school, he would utilize resources such as his peers and teachers to see if he could learn from a different perspective that he couldn't see himself. He would also review his study habits to see if there were areas in which he was showing any deficits or weaknesses. He enjoys being that resource for his students and for helping them improve their habits that translate across all subjects as well! Toby has had experience tutoring students from all different backgrounds and in different learning environments. He's patient, willing, and dedicated to helping others using his experience and knowledge. He finds genuine enjoyment in building relationships with his students and seeing them excel throughout the academic year and beyond!
Victoria Ellis
Victoria is a current UCF student, who has over 6 years tutoring experience! Victoria has been passionate about teaching and nurturing others for as long as she can remember. To Victoria, there is "nothing more gratifying than seeing a student achieve what they once felt to be impossible". Victoria believes that a student's learning journey is boundless and she's merely the facilitator helping them to grow and achieve their goals! Victoria enjoys tutoring Math, Spanish (she's FLUENT!), and Science, but thrived across all subjects. Victoria has empathy and understanding for our students that is unmatched! She "remembers being that student wanting to succeed ad trying hard to no avail". As an independent student, Victoria often times felt intimidated when she was struggling with concepts growing up — especially if her peers were surpassing her with flying colors. She would let herself struggle through, often times afraid to speak up and ask for help. As she got older, she understood the importance of one-on-one mentorship and education so that she had a place to go and ask her questions to maximize her learning potential. She was shocked with what an hour or two per week did for her academic growth and understanding. The tutors she once worked with in the past inspired her to follow her dreams and even pursue a rigorous career in STEM. As a result, Victoria's mission is to model the tutors she worked with growing up.As a result, Victoria prides herself on being a vessel of knowledge and a means of support for students, especially those who may feel intimidated to speak up in the classroom!
Jonathan Gonzalez
Jonathan is currently a UCF student with 5+ years tutoring experience! He enjoys tutoring because he loves the satisfaction of seeing a student's "lightbulb" moment when they've been working so diligently! He loves seeing her students report back to her when they've earned a grade they've worked so hard for and knowing she had made an impact on their growth and self-efficacy! As both a social/interpersonal learner and logical/mathematical learner, Jonathan enjoys finding creative, out of the box ways to help students excel in all areas of Math! Jonathan is known for helping our students create cues and systems that can be replicated and applied to a wide variety of problems. Jonathan overcame her academic obstacles as a student by first making plans to approach the problem at hand, determining the most ideal approach, and then attacking the problem itself! He is patient and often times will have students focus on the basics before building up to more advanced subjects. He's an avid believer in the power of momentum during his tutoring sessions and the impact that it has on a student's degree of self-efficacy and ability to achieve! As a result -- he's a firm believer in creating processes for students that they can use and apply for all similar problems and for encouraging repetition so that students can gain a high degree of confidence in utilizing her systems for a wide variety of problems! Jonathan is our social butterfly! He works well with many of our more shy and reserved students, making each and every student he works with feel comfortable, seen, heard, and valued!
Gabriella Valdivia
Gabriella is a UCF student with over 3+ years tutoring experience. She finds tutoring to be the most rewarding job! She cites that, "there's no better feeling than helping a student have their AHA moment, where everything just clicks". In school, Gabriella thrived in Biology and English and enjoys tutoring ELA and sciences the most. She finds it fascinating that there's explanations for some of the most complicated processes on our planet and in our bodies and enjoys the challenge of breaking down those more intimidating concepts for students in a way that is easily understood. When Gabriella was in 7th grade, she was diagnosed with ADHD. For years, she struggled with the effects of this disorder -- forgetting homework, struggling to take notes, and missing due dates for assignments. Gabriella was able to work one-on-one with a tutor and develop strategies that allowed her to cope with and manage her ADHD. In many cases, she was able to leverage her ADHD to help her excel beyond her peers. Gabriella was able to graduate high school as an International Baccalaureate diploma recipient, with a 4.33% GPA, and in the top 11% of her class. She was accepted into the Burnette Honors College at UCF in the pursuit of her Biomedical Sciences degree. She's passionate about helping other students, particularly those with diagnoses such as ADHD or ADD to uncover their hidden strengths and truly excel on their academic journey!
Robert Bush
Robert is a UCF student pursuing a degree in Physics. Having scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT, he recognizes that his achievements weren't mere coincidence. Robert's educational journey is truly remarkable. Having been brought up in a poorly performing school district, he lacked support and proper guidance, but knew that he could be resourceful to "make up for" what his educators weren't teaching him. As a result, Robert is extremely empathetic and resourceful for his own students. He was an honors and AP student, but certainly put forth the effort. Whenever he encountered an educational obstacle, he would seek out help from outside resources such as online videos, books he would find, or his peers. Robert is adept in tutoring all math subjects, all science subjects, and all reading/ELA courses. He is a unique tutor; he characterizes himself as a visual and solitary learner]. He enjoys reading, writing, and word games and always had great note-taking skills in school but is equally great with numbers, patterns, grouping, and classification!
Aaron Lue
Aaron is a UCF student with over 5+ years tutoring experience majoring in Finance with a minor in mathematics. Aaron enjoys tutoring because. he understands that learning new concepts can be challenging and frustrating, but takes pride in being a resource for students and making assistance accessible to all students. He enjoys tutoring math the most as it involves many complexities ranging from problem solving, critical thinking, and application, making it both challenging and rewarding. He cites, he's "always loved seeing a student's face glow when something connects for them". Aaron has always pushed himself academically, having scored in the top 99th percentile of his classes gaining multiple AP credits and Dual enrollment credits prior to attending UF. Aaron was a resourceful student in school, always seeking help from his teachers by setting up one-on-one, face to face meetings with them or leveraging online resources when his teachers weren't available. Aaron now enjoys passing that gift onto his students. Aaron is a firm believer in heuristics; he ensures his students don't merely memorize but can think critically about problems, understand them, connect dots, and apply what they've learned to real-life scenarios. He thrives to make learning truly fun and engaging as he recognizes that rote activities can be a detriment to a student's learning potential. He believes learning should be interesting, not arduous. When a student is feeling frustrated, Aaron always seeks to accomodate them: he truly understands that concepts a student may be struggling to grasp can be overwhelming and sometimes, the student may need breaks. Aaron will ensure he "breaks" up the tutoring session without getting off topic by briefly engaging in friendly dialogue to humanize himself and allow his students to "gain their footing" before revisiting frustrating topics. Aaron is brilliant, encouraging, creative, and patient! Our students are thriving in his hands!
Hailey Pinter
Aaron is a UCF student with over 5+ years tutoring experience majoring in Finance with a minor in mathematics. Aaron enjoys tutoring because. he understands that learning new concepts can be challenging and frustrating, but takes pride in being a resource for students and making assistance accessible to all students. He enjoys tutoring math the most as it involves many complexities ranging from problem solving, critical thinking, and application, making it both challenging and rewarding. He cites, he's "always loved seeing a student's face glow when something connects for them". Aaron has always pushed himself academically, having scored in the top 99th percentile of his classes gaining multiple AP credits and Dual enrollment credits prior to attending UF. Aaron was a resourceful student in school, always seeking help from his teachers by setting up one-on-one, face to face meetings with them or leveraging online resources when his teachers weren't available. Aaron now enjoys passing that gift onto his students. Aaron is a firm believer in heuristics; he ensures his students don't merely memorize but can think critically about problems, understand them, connect dots, and apply what they've learned to real-life scenarios. He thrives to make learning truly fun and engaging as he recognizes that rote activities can be a detriment to a student's learning potential. He believes learning should be interesting, not arduous. When a student is feeling frustrated, Aaron always seeks to accomodate them: he truly understands that concepts a student may be struggling to grasp can be overwhelming and sometimes, the student may need breaks. Aaron will ensure he "breaks" up the tutoring session without getting off topic by briefly engaging in friendly dialogue to humanize himself and allow his students to "gain their footing" before revisiting frustrating topics. Aaron is brilliant, encouraging, creative, and patient! Our students are thriving in his hands!
Our Tutors
Madeline Nelson
Madeline is a University of Central Florida Knight! She's has extensive tutoring experience with students of all ages - even upper level sciences including anatomy and physiology, chemistry, and biology, upper level math including calculus, algebra 1 & 2, trigonometry, and geometry, and even experience with SAT! She's hoping to one day have a career working with students! She firmly believes building a strong academic foundation is paramount to the future success of students and for overall self-confidence. She cites, "By being able to solve problems and learn efficiently, students learn they can do anything they set their minds to!"Her favorite subjects are history, reading, and science! She is adept in working with all learners, but personally, she's a visual-spatial learner! She once told us, she could hear the pythagorean theorem 100 times over, but until she writes it, she probably won't retain it! She's knowledgeable, empathetic, and hard working! She will always put her best foot forward to figure out how to assist our students and meet their needs in any way she can!
Adam Farrow
Adam is a current student at the University of Central Florida! He's always had a passion for helping students to excel, particularly when it requires him to think outside of the box and get creative with strategies he can use with his current students! Adam has always had a passion for helping students in subjects such as math and science. He has found that particularly for himself, he was able to overcome roadblocks during his time in primary school/high school by working with tutors who could simply present material in a different way for him, often times offering a different perspective so it could "click"! He now enjoys being that resource for students of his own! Adam completed Calculus at the University of Central Florida with a 99% and achieved a 48/50 on the data structures part of the foundation exam given at UCF. While in school, Adam adopted the philosophy that when he was presented with a difficult course, it only meant that he needed to spend extra time on reviewing materials and perhaps consult with outside resources! He enjoys overcoming student's mental barriers with them as they approach "tricky" courses, providing them with plenty of resources, insight, and even strategies to reframe their thinking when they approach challenges or specific questions that stump them!
Madison Smith
Madison is a current student at the University of Central Florida graduating this December as an Interdisciplinary Studies (Pre-law) major and taking a gap year before attending law school in Central Florida! She is a current PeerKnights & ACE Coach, volunteering some of her time outside of class in the UCF Student Learning and Academic success center. She's also President of the UCF Greek Council, co-founder of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at UCF, and a current Nominee for Order of pegasus (the highest Undergraduate honor at the University of Central Florida). As a pre-law major, Madison thrives in all things ELA and SAT/ACT Prep but is also highly qualified to tutor math up through Algebra 1 and 2! Claudia's passionate about tutoring because she loves inspiring students and celebrating with them when they overcome obstacles or barriers and ace their tests with flying colors! She loves a good report after test days when she reconvenes with her students! Having been extremely involved all through high school and college, she is great at helping our students stay organized and develop "study skills" that will take them far in their academic careers. Madison takes a participative approach in her tutoring sessions and believes in getting to the root cause of frustrations and setbacks so they don't "bleed" over into other courses or into future assessments/assignments. Having worked at College orientation at UCF for two years, she's very familiar with the transition and requirements of students from high-school to college involving AP coursework, Dual-enrollment credits, and College placement tests. She has also volunteered in elementary classrooms with students ranging from those far below grade level, those at or above grade level, and those with special needs. In this role, she lead classroom activities and worked one-on-one with students needing extra assistance in specific subject areas. Madison sees the "long-term" goal when she works with a student and tries to help them see it too. She cites, "Helping a student excel in a specific subject is important, but preparing them for their future educational ventures as they prepare for college and entering the workforce is the key component to keeping them motivated and goal-oriented".
Jack Morgan
Jack is a University of Central Florida Student and UCF athlete! He is passionate about education and helping students overcome educational hurdles in creative ways! He's a natural with students having had many years experience volunteering with them as a tutor and as a coach! For Adam, tutoring has always been valuable; growing up, he needed consistent tutoring and wants to now give back to students! He loves having a positive impact on the students he works with and role models the professionalism, grace, and knowledge that previous tutors showed him. He enjoys a good challenge! He loves figuring out "how a student thinks" and works hard to tailor each tutoring session to a student's specific needs and learning styles so his teachings can resonate and "click"! Seeing his student's progress is one of his favorite parts of the job -- for Jack, tutoring is incredibly rewarding and gives him a sense of pride! He's a great example of a successful student who prioritized his studies, seeking out help when needed, so that he could also play sports! Jack's favorite subjects to tutor are reading and math. He works hard to help his students with time management as this was a key component of his success. He understands the difference between a great tutor and a mediocre tutor and holds himself to a very high standard!
Cristina Tran
Cristina is currently a student at the University of Central Florida. She’s tutored for over four years (grades K-12), scored in the 99th percentile of her peers on the SAT, and is an honors student at UCF! Need I say more?! Her greatest joy has always been bringing joy to others’ lives. She proclaims, “Being a tutor makes her feel valued and needed, and by helping students, she’s able to lift a weight off their back, however big or small”. Whenever Cristina is around our students, she’s always smiling! She’s always enjoyed tutoring math biology the most because she finds that those are the “lesser enjoyed” subjects, and she enjoys the challenge of finding innovative ways to make the subjects easier and even fun, to both understand and study. Cristina is notorious for bestowing her impeccable linguistic skills onto some of our students needing english tutoring as well! When she was a student, she always ensured she was communicating with her peers and educators to assist her with organizing her workload, time management, and seeking out additional help when needed. Cristina values one-on-one instruction, planning, creating lists, etc. and finds herself instilling these similar habits in her students!
Alex Evison
Alex is an undergraduate student from the University of Central Florida. He has tutored for over 4 years now and specializes in upper level math and science tutoring. Alex is a firm believer in investing in the leaders of tomorrow through education as they will be the ones taking care of and leading us! Alex's has been a stellar math student for as long as he can remember; from a very young age, Alex remembers being able to do math quicker and more accurately than his peers. As a result, he frequently finished earlier than his classmates and would allocate his "extra time" to helping them or other students needing assistance. During his freshman year of High School, he took on the role of "TA" for his Algebra 2 class and continued tutoring since. He finds math the easiest subject to explain as it's concrete and based on logic, but Alex loves that math allows for creativity in that he can help a student arrive at the same answer using a variety of methods -- he finds that if one method isn't working for a student, there's generally another that he can think of! When Alex was in school, he was able to be successful by asking questions (to his tutors and teachers); as a result, Alex does a stellar job at creating an environment for our students where they can feel comfortable asking any questions they may have.
Toby Johnson
Toby, a UCF knight and exceptional team member of ours has been tutoring for over 5 years!! Toby has thoroughly enjoyed helping students over the years learn and grow not only as student, but as individuals! He believes that, "there is nothing more gratifying than seeing that 'aha' moment " when going over material with one of his students -- whether that be in math, english, science, or test prep! Likewise, he likes that tutoring challenges him to stay current. In his free time, Toby is creating lesson plans and researching new ways to convey otherwise "tricky" subjects to our students! Toby enjoys tutoring Math and Science most as they are the two subjects he finds to be most stimulating and engaging, yet finds both to be extremely rewarding when challenges can be overcome! Toby is known for working with the "disinterested" student and helping them to cultivate an authentic interest in the subjects they're struggling with by making the subject engaging, entertaining, and most importantly applicable to real-world scenarios! When toby would struggle in school, he would utilize resources such as his peers and teachers to see if he could learn from a different perspective that he couldn't see himself. He would also review his study habits to see if there were areas in which he was showing any deficits or weaknesses. He enjoys being that resource for his students and for helping them improve their habits that translate across all subjects as well! Toby has had experience tutoring students from all different backgrounds and in different learning environments. He's patient, willing, and dedicated to helping others using his experience and knowledge. He finds genuine enjoyment in building relationships with his students and seeing them excel throughout the academic year and beyond!
Victoria Ellis
Victoria is a current UCF student, who has over 6 years tutoring experience! Victoria has been passionate about teaching and nurturing others for as long as she can remember. To Victoria, there is "nothing more gratifying than seeing a student achieve what they once felt to be impossible". Victoria believes that a student's learning journey is boundless and she's merely the facilitator helping them to grow and achieve their goals! Victoria enjoys tutoring Math, Spanish (she's FLUENT!), and Science, but thrived across all subjects. Victoria has empathy and understanding for our students that is unmatched! She "remembers being that student wanting to succeed ad trying hard to no avail". As an independent student, Victoria often times felt intimidated when she was struggling with concepts growing up — especially if her peers were surpassing her with flying colors. She would let herself struggle through, often times afraid to speak up and ask for help. As she got older, she understood the importance of one-on-one mentorship and education so that she had a place to go and ask her questions to maximize her learning potential. She was shocked with what an hour or two per week did for her academic growth and understanding. The tutors she once worked with in the past inspired her to follow her dreams and even pursue a rigorous career in STEM. As a result, Victoria's mission is to model the tutors she worked with growing up.As a result, Victoria prides herself on being a vessel of knowledge and a means of support for students, especially those who may feel intimidated to speak up in the classroom!
Jonathan Gonzalez
Jonathan is currently a UCF student with 5+ years tutoring experience! He enjoys tutoring because he loves the satisfaction of seeing a student's "lightbulb" moment when they've been working so diligently! He loves seeing her students report back to her when they've earned a grade they've worked so hard for and knowing she had made an impact on their growth and self-efficacy! As both a social/interpersonal learner and logical/mathematical learner, Jonathan enjoys finding creative, out of the box ways to help students excel in all areas of Math! Jonathan is known for helping our students create cues and systems that can be replicated and applied to a wide variety of problems. Jonathan overcame her academic obstacles as a student by first making plans to approach the problem at hand, determining the most ideal approach, and then attacking the problem itself! He is patient and often times will have students focus on the basics before building up to more advanced subjects. He's an avid believer in the power of momentum during his tutoring sessions and the impact that it has on a student's degree of self-efficacy and ability to achieve! As a result -- he's a firm believer in creating processes for students that they can use and apply for all similar problems and for encouraging repetition so that students can gain a high degree of confidence in utilizing her systems for a wide variety of problems! Jonathan is our social butterfly! He works well with many of our more shy and reserved students, making each and every student he works with feel comfortable, seen, heard, and valued!
Gabriella Valdivia
Gabriella is a UCF student with over 3+ years tutoring experience. She finds tutoring to be the most rewarding job! She cites that, "there's no better feeling than helping a student have their AHA moment, where everything just clicks". In school, Gabriella thrived in Biology and English and enjoys tutoring ELA and sciences the most. She finds it fascinating that there's explanations for some of the most complicated processes on our planet and in our bodies and enjoys the challenge of breaking down those more intimidating concepts for students in a way that is easily understood. When Gabriella was in 7th grade, she was diagnosed with ADHD. For years, she struggled with the effects of this disorder -- forgetting homework, struggling to take notes, and missing due dates for assignments. Gabriella was able to work one-on-one with a tutor and develop strategies that allowed her to cope with and manage her ADHD. In many cases, she was able to leverage her ADHD to help her excel beyond her peers. Gabriella was able to graduate high school as an International Baccalaureate diploma recipient, with a 4.33% GPA, and in the top 11% of her class. She was accepted into the Burnette Honors College at UCF in the pursuit of her Biomedical Sciences degree. She's passionate about helping other students, particularly those with diagnoses such as ADHD or ADD to uncover their hidden strengths and truly excel on their academic journey!
Kylie Cimillo
Kylie is a Health sciences major at UCF with 4+ years tutoring experience. She enjoys tutoring because it gives her the opportunity to be a part of a student's academic growth and success. She thoroughly enjoys seeing her students overcome challenges and exceed their expectations of themselves! Moreover, Kylie loves the bonds that she forms with her students. We've been told, Kylie is a patient, caring, and intentional tutor with each of our students! She believes tutoring is an excellent tool to help students develop a growth mindset that will carry them far beyond their "K-12" years. As a health and sciences major, Kylie is a math and science buff, however she also loves reading and writing in her free time, and in her free time, you can find her journaling or reading! When Kylie faced challenges in school growing up, she always revisited her "weak spots" -- working hard to identify how she could close those "gaps" and improve the next time. She found herself in the hands of a tutor herself growing up on the rare occasion she was struggling! Kylie is a planner and believes in helping students create plans, set timely goals, and roadmaps when preparing for tests or the next year of school. Kylie is a physical and kinesthetic learner and is very hands on. She enjoys making learning interactive for our students to keep them engaged!
Aaron Lue
Aaron is a UCF student with over 5+ years tutoring experience majoring in Finance with a minor in mathematics. Aaron enjoys tutoring because. he understands that learning new concepts can be challenging and frustrating, but takes pride in being a resource for students and making assistance accessible to all students. He enjoys tutoring math the most as it involves many complexities ranging from problem solving, critical thinking, and application, making it both challenging and rewarding. He cites, he's "always loved seeing a student's face glow when something connects for them". Aaron has always pushed himself academically, having scored in the top 99th percentile of his classes gaining multiple AP credits and Dual enrollment credits prior to attending UF. Aaron was a resourceful student in school, always seeking help from his teachers by setting up one-on-one, face to face meetings with them or leveraging online resources when his teachers weren't available. Aaron now enjoys passing that gift onto his students. Aaron is a firm believer in heuristics; he ensures his students don't merely memorize but can think critically about problems, understand them, connect dots, and apply what they've learned to real-life scenarios. He thrives to make learning truly fun and engaging as he recognizes that rote activities can be a detriment to a student's learning potential. He believes learning should be interesting, not arduous. When a student is feeling frustrated, Aaron always seeks to accomodate them: he truly understands that concepts a student may be struggling to grasp can be overwhelming and sometimes, the student may need breaks. Aaron will ensure he "breaks" up the tutoring session without getting off topic by briefly engaging in friendly dialogue to humanize himself and allow his students to "gain their footing" before revisiting frustrating topics. Aaron is brilliant, encouraging, creative, and patient! Our students are thriving in his hands!
Hailey Pinter
Hailey is a pre-nursing major at UCF; she’s been tutoring for 5+ years. She enjoys tutoring because it gives her the opportunity to share her knowledge with other students and to cultivate a growth mindset with students. She enjoys seeing students excel and supersede their expectations of themselves when they set the bar high and exceed it. She has a very strong proven track record working and volunteering in elementary schools where she’s tutored science, math, and English (reading comprehension). When she faced obstacles as a student herself, she found herself getting overwhelmed by the “big picture” 9 times out of 10. She found the best way for her to overcome this was to break things into “bite sized chunks” and systematize the process for herself. As a result, she likes to teach these strategies to students of her own. She’s a physical and kinesthetic learner, so she’s extremely hands on and enjoys finding interactive ways for her students to learn any material (flip books, games, and projects). Hailey takes pride in her ability to connect with her students beyond merely stepping in as their "tutor"; she finds that in cultivating a relationship with them, they are more likely to stay motivated and find the sessions enjoyable. When her students are feeling frustrated, Hailey works hard to uncover the source of their frustrations before assuming. She speaks words of encouragement into her students and positive reinforcement to remind them of their progress and offer them a different perspective. A fun fact about Hailey is that she's an animal lover too! In her free time, you can find her volunteering with her therapy dog!
Robert Bush
Robert is a UCF student pursuing a degree in Physics. Having scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT, he recognizes that his achievements weren't mere coincidence. Robert's educational journey is truly remarkable. Having been brought up in a poorly performing school district, he lacked support and proper guidance, but knew that he could be resourceful to "make up for" what his educators weren't teaching him. As a result, Robert is extremely empathetic and resourceful for his own students. He was an honors and AP student, but certainly put forth the effort. Whenever he encountered an educational obstacle, he would seek out help from outside resources such as online videos, books he would find, or his peers. Robert is adept in tutoring all math subjects, all science subjects, and all reading/ELA courses. He is a unique tutor; he characterizes himself as a visual and solitary learner]. He enjoys reading, writing, and word games and always had great note-taking skills in school but is equally great with numbers, patterns, grouping, and classification!