On-campus Tutoring Services
Going into college can be overwhelming. Maybe, you just have a very intensive major that expects you to memorize everything. As each day passes, the exam gets closer and closer, and you still do not understand the topic. You start stressing out, and next thing you know you are alone eating a bucket of ice cream and chips and start to accept your fate, but as my boy Naruto said you can change your fate, believe it!
NO WORRIES, tutoring services are here to help! If you need to study for an exam, COVERED! If you want to actually understand the topic, that's also COVERED! At UNLV there are multiple places you can go for tutoring services depending on the class you need help in. If you need specific tutoring in math because finding the limits and integrals are kicking your butt, then you can go to the Academic Success Center and find a tutor to help you. The library also has drop-in tutoring on the second floor for any questions you may have.
In my experience for tutoring, I did not use any of the above-mentioned places. I participate in a program called Upwardbound / TRIO which is a fabulous program. I had an advisor there that asked me how I was doing in my BIO 197 class and in my opinion, I believed I was doing great for not having the book for the class. I had a 75% in the class after our first exam. My professor asked if I wanted a tutor to help because if I wanted to go into Medical school, a C in a prerequisite class does not look too great. At first, I was a little reluctant and prideful.
I decided to give tutoring a try. At first, I thought it was going to be some random person who probably never even took the class or has some unrelated major. The very next day, I received a text from the tutor. She asked me what days and times I was available for tutoring, and I jokingly said right now. She replied to meet in the library! She was a senior Biology major. The image that I had about tutoring dissipated. I asked her if I just got lucky or if there are certain requirements for a person to be a tutor under the Upwardbound / Trio program. The requirements are the person has to either be in the major or taken the class and passed with a minimum B and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. I now saw this tutor as my sensei who would teach me the ways of the biology major and how to pass this class.
Tutoring me turns more into me tutoring you, because the way I learn is by (1) memorizing the content and (2) reciting it over and over and over in my head, then I go over it again and connect it with previous chapters and reciting it aloud. The thing I like was that she was very friendly and first asked me how I learned the best and she did just that. Every week on Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00am, we would meet in the library and I would go over all of the material that the professor went over in class and any additional information from the book. I would sit there telling her the information, which resembled me teaching a person who did not know any of it and connecting it with other chapters. All meanwhile, she looked at the PowerPoints and marked off any information I got wrong, could not say, or skipped. After, we would repeat one more time just to double-check and then she would have me go over the information she marked me off on. This was constant every week, and if in case she could not make it, she would actually give me a notice from 3 days to a week prior.
It came time to finally take the next exam. We made a day to meet up before the exam and go over any material that I still needed some help in. The day came I was sitting in the auditorium in my seat. I was nervous due to the fact that I had calculated that if I got another C in this exam, then I would need a high A in the next one and a perfect for the midterm and final. When I finally got the test, the first question I immediately knew, then the second and so on. By the end of the exam, I was unimpressed by it. It did not faze me for a second.
I made significant progress with the tutoring services. I kept receiving 90s and my highest was 97%. In the end, I passed the class with an A, which was better than what I was aiming for after my first exam results. My worry that I would have a C or a low B in a prerequisite class faded. Also, I became good friends with my tutor. We still talk here and there, and she gives me tips and information that I would later need. My experience with the tutoring services provided by Upwardbound / Trio was excellent and beneficial for my education and future career.
Edgar Bueno, Sophomore
Orientation Leader
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
High School: Western High School
Major: Biology Pre-professional