Mawi is one of the new tutors trained by the Asian Culture Center for their English tutoring and peer support service, which begins Jan. 19.
“My family moved to the U.S. when I was in high school, and I remember how much help I needed with English,” Mawi said. “I want to help other people having trouble so they don’t have to be scared to talk to new people.”
The program is designed for international students seeking basic speaking and grammar help, as well as assistance with assignments for specific classes. Tutors are students who volunteer between one to five hours a week.
“We started the program a few years ago as a response to students involved with us who were struggling in some of their classes,” said Sarah Stamey, the programs associate for the ACC. “We had a handful of tutors then, and it’s become easier and easier to bring in new people who are excited to help out.”
Currently, about 20 students work as tutors for a total of about 275 hours every semester, Stamey said. The program is structured so students seeking help can stop by without an appointment and stay for as little or as long as they like.
“Sometimes they just have a quick question, and sometimes they want to stay and practice having a conversation for half an hour,” Stamey said.
During the orientation meeting, Stamey encouraged new tutors to find common ground with the students they would be helping. The program often tries to pair students with tutors who have the same major, as well as making sure students who frequently receive tutoring are paired with the same tutor each week, Stamey said.
“Last year, a visiting scholar from Turkey would visit my tutoring hours every week so he could pass his test of English as a foreign language and get accepted into a graduate program,” senior tutor Samantha Toy said. “Getting to be a part of that process was really rewarding.”
The program also benefits the tutors, Stamey said. She said many students studying education or international studies use their tutoring hours as practice and experience for their majors.
Freshman Haley Conklin, a Japanese major, used her experience last semester as a tutor to help her decide what she wants to do with her future.
“I had always considered teaching abroad and decided to do this on a whim to see if I liked teaching English,” Conklin said. “So I’m going to keep doing it, because it feels like a step in the right direction for what I want to do.”
Even after the orientation session, the ACC will continue accepting students who want to be tutors for the program. The ACC wants to increase the amount of hours they can provide, Stamey said.
“This is something a little more informal, a little more private than most other campus tutoring services,” Stamey said. “It’s not always easy to ask for help, so when students come to us, we want them to know that we’re going to help them the best we can.”
