Fun Facts

I've done nearly every kind of art imaginable - I was a contortionist with the SF circus in high school, I did AP Studio Art, I DJ on UCLA radio, and I play piano. I love combining art with science and hope to lessen the divide between the two.
I also currently live at a cooperative housing association with a bunch of international students and I absolutely love being exposed to so many different cultures.

About Me

I am a fourth year undergraduate at UCLA studying Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution. My dream is to work for a science institution like the Smithsonian or National Geographic.
I have worked with elementary school kids with the CalTeach program, teaching them science lessons and helping them with homework. I have also tutored AP classes with Cypress Academy.
Although I have not tutored much, I have lots of experience teaching hands-on science to large groups of children and teenagers ages 5-16 as part of the staff in the Exploratorium, Santa Monica Aquarium, and Zeum.
I also have an 11 year old sister who I help with homework all the time, so I am familiar with the types of struggles students have in elementary and middle school.

I believe that the key to learning is excitement about the material, so I make it my priority to get students interested. I try to relate the material to their lives and show them how they can use the knowledge to impact the world in a way that affects them.
I use many visual tools and analogies, especially for math. I make sure to ask the students lots of questions that guide them to discover the answer on their own, so that they experience the joy of figuring out a solution to a challenging problem and strive to experience it again.
I take problems step by step and also ask questions to figure out the specific concept a student has trouble. I make outlines of all the concepts, building from very simple blocks. I like to use a lot of examples and relate them to everyday things so that the student has a good mental image of a concrete example that relates to a more abstract concept.