Tutor Spotlight – Sara Soofian


Sara SoofianSARA SOOFIAN

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Grade: Junior

Major: Public Health

What school do you serve? Ida B. Wells School for Social Justice (UW). Last quarter, I tutored at Chief Sealth International High School.

How long have you been with MESA? This is my second quarter tutoring with MESA.

Why did you join MESA? I love working with kids and students and I had done after-school tutoring in the past and really enjoyed it. I was looking up opportunities for undergrads to tutor and I found MESA.

What do you like most about tutoring for MESA? The students are a lot of fun to work with, and they really appreciate the help. It feels good to be able to help a student succeed in a class they don’t enjoy, or realize that they are fully capable of understanding concepts that they may be struggling with.

What are the challenges that you’ve faced when tutoring? Especially with certain subjects like geometry and algebra, it can be hard to remember concepts and rules that I learned in middle and high school and haven’t touched in years. Also, the way that every school teaches is different, so some classes are teaching certain methods that I’ve never seen before. But it’s interesting because I’m constantly learning new and different ways to do things I already know!

Fun fact(s) about yourself: My guilty pleasure is watching really bad reality TV.  I grew up in Chicago and I plan on moving back there in the future!

Hobbies and Interests: When I’m not busy with school, I like watching movies, baking, and spending time with my family and friends.

If you could be one pizza ingredient, what would you be and why? Olives, because no pizza is complete without olives.

 

Interviewed by Jia Jun Chia, Tutor