Part One - My LinkedIn
I was chatting with someone the other day who I am about to start working with on a side project. She started by telling me that she had done some research on me. Like most people (I think), I got worried. I’m not sure what I worried she would find, but I worried that she already felt she knew me. She quickly followed this up with, “It sure looks like you have three jobs…” The cat was out of the bag. She knew that, at the present moment, I am a software engineer, an adjunct professor and, as you all know, a small business owner. Turns out all you have to do is go to my LinkedIn to know I like to be busy.
The last few weeks have been draining. My amazing job in software has been hectic in a way that, mostly, I appreciate, but that means I end my “normal” workday tired and ready for bed. You can also imagine that November is a big month for tutoring, whether because a student wants to take the December SAT, a student is rushing to finish their college essays, a student (or parent) got a not-so-wonderful progress report, or the material is getting tough in school. November is the perfect storm of tutoring chaos, and onboarding a new student, tutor, match, etc. is not trivial. What better time than now for me to revamp my resources for my tutors, as well, right?!
If that weren’t enough, my students at Simmons University have an exam on Wednesday that I want them to be beyond prepared for, and building confidence in students with less-than-awesome experiences in past math classes isn’t so easy. So, I will repeat, the last few weeks have been draining.
After meeting with two tutors about a new student to give them context, holding my office hours, writing up my lesson plans and worksheets for the week, and dealing with scheduling and invoicing for TriTutoring, I got a text from a TriTutoring parent. I almost cried. Her daughter had finished a session with a new tutor and she had some feedback. Let’s be clear. Feedback is not always awesome. Like anyone, I get feedback that I use to grow and learn (in all three jobs), and this is sometimes a bummer. This text, however, was great feedback.
I asked if she would be willing to write something for the website because I didn’t want to post anything with a student or tutor’s name. Her response is on the testimonials page, but I’m going to put it here as well because I want to really dig into it for my next post (which is why this is just Part One). Turns out this blog post has a purpose beyond being a pity party for my busy life… phew!
“TriTutoring and Hannah are hands-down the best tutoring service around. With four children, two of whom have learning disabilities, we have tried many tutors. But Hannah‘s understanding and compassion for what my children need goes above and beyond. The tutors she has set my kids up with have all been phenomenal. I have one child doing online high school and TriTutoring has made all the difference in her ability to comprehend and excel in an online environment. The multi-subject help that they’ve been able to provide my other children has been unlike any we have received in the past. The tutors are knowledgeable and compassionate and work with my kids in the way they learn best. And the college essay help was invaluable. The tutors worked with my son to create the best personal essay possible which resulted in him being accepted to every college he applied to. I cannot say enough about Hannah and the amazing tutors at TriTutoring.”
This is what I needed on a day when I was mentally exhausted with a to-do list that wouldn’t stop growing. For those who know me well and see me when I’m drained, this is why I take my nights and weekends to do TriTutoring. This is the why behind my LinkedIn account.
In my next post, I want to dig into the feedback from Allison because I think it tells us a lot about when and why tutoring works.
Shameless Plus:
Check out TriTutoring LLC on LinkedIn!