my tutoring philosophy

It is a privilege to support others as a creative tutor: to see someone’s unpolished work; to tap into their inner struggles and motivations; to be a part of their unique generative process. There is a vulnerability in a client showing their work to a tutor and saying “I need help”. I want to honor that vulnerability by meeting it with my own - showing up as a peer - and by engaging genuinely with the material at hand. With each session, I want to connect with what I find engaging and also with what I may find challenging.

Many new clients may view me as an extension of the FIT administration or as a proxy for their professor. This mentality can show up as deference or fear of judgment in the student. Neither deference nor fear of judgment is helpful in a tutoring session, so it’s essential to me that I communicate to the client that I am not a stand-in for their professor, and I will not judge them for their work (or lack of it), nor will I be able to fix their work in a way or guarantee them a good grade. What I can do is get them unstuck and re-engaged through a discussion of their goals and hopefully facilitate them leaving the session more empowered and confident in their progress.

My goal is to help each client connect with what excites them about their work. I believe that this is a powerful balm for anxiety; when someone connects so deeply with their message that the joy of expressing it to others is greater than the fear of being vulnerable. The more honest the work, the greater risk in showing it to the world. However, alongside the risk of rejection is the potential for being celebrated for who you are by your audience. My aim as a tutor is to help my clients not just meet a set of guidelines, but to reflect their values and unique perspective, and ultimately find celebration in expression of their experience.