May is a student at an international school in Shenzhen who tutors a trainee with special medical conditions in English amongst other things. She is very skilled in her academics, her favorite topics are Economics and Psychology. May enjoys skiing, stating that she loves the views she sees up high in the mountains. She has done tutoring for several a little over a year now, and started tutoring others in August of last year. She learned of the GYP through her primary school friend’s Mom. She joined because it would be a good experience and not difficult to do, as she has already done much tutoring beforehand.
When I asked about her trainee, a brave young girl who suffered from fire injuries and still deals with certain medical conditions. May tells me about the different ways she teaches her English. One of the ways she teaches basic English is by using a combination of both languages. She first states the word in Chinese, then says the same word, only in English. Along with English, she has taught about Norse and the Age of exploration to her.
Her most memorable moment tutoring, she tells me, was when her student asked to do an English song-learning class. During this time May learned of the resilience of her student, as she never let challenges hold her back from doing anything and really made an impression on May. The way they sang was that they took turns singing the song, this method made it very interactive to both of them. The lesson May took from this was that teaching and learning are greatly entwined, which is another reason why she loves tutoring.
May has been a great contributor to the community she is in, along with the GYP through her efforts to teach and enlighten others. She has the great ingenuity and creativity to continue teaching others even in the midst of global pandemic. We at the GYP strive to make higher education a possibility for those who may not be able to otherwise. Tutors such as May make sure this goal is achieved among a wide range of students despite many obstacles.
Reported by Simon Chen. Simon is GYP Outreach team member and an 8 grader in Boston.