Personal Narrative: Honors Chemistry

Honors Chemistry was always a pleasantly productive period. A typical class block entailed only a lesson and worksheet; for example, I would speed through a stoichiometry worksheet, ensure that I understood limiting reagents, and find myself with half of the period to occupy. Some days I would finish homework for other classes, while other days I would browse scientific journals on my phone. Occasionally I would use this time to “do math,” which, for someone without much of a background in the subject, meant toying with a calculator and graph paper until the bell rang. During one class period, I found a small right triangle in my notebook and proceeded to draw more right triangles, each a unit taller but all with a unit-long base. Satisfied
The previous director was leaving for college, and there was a dire need for math tutors. Wanting to share my newfound love for mathematics, I jumped at the opportunity. I met with students enrolled in Geometry, AP Calculus, and even my own IB math class; more importantly, I worked with quite a few students on a long-term basis. In between perusing their textbooks, searching for lesson plans online, rehearsing the best way to explain complex concepts, and asking teachers about their own techniques, I saw a increase in not only my tutoring aptitude, but also my tutees’ mathematical aptitudes. One student went from needing me to hint at every step of every problem of every worksheet, to breezing through her homework and only needing a quick proofread from me. A teacher even mentioned to me that he had seen rapid and significant improvement in a student’s performance after the student came for tutoring. While I never saw a student joyfully jump out of his chair after solving a problem or worship her textbook in an act of bibliolatry, I did see students approach their work with enthusiasm and avidity instead of doom and despair. Over the time I spent as co-director, I began finding just as much excitement in seeing others solve problems solitarily as I found in constructing my first