PrepNow Tutor - Daniel P.
Daniel earned his bachelor's in history with highest honors from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was recognized with a Departmental Citation as the top student in his department in his graduating class. In 2017, he earned his PhD in history from Stanford University.
Daniel has receive two Fulbright grants, one following his undergraduate studies for independent research in Albania on the topic, "Rewriting National History in Post-Communist Albania." When he began his doctoral program, he was awarded a second grant, which funded dissertation fieldwork in Albania and Serbia on Yugoslavia's quest to annex Albania after the Second World War.
"I've spent much of the last ten years doing research or teaching college history," he says. "I love tutoring because it allows me to put into practice my pedagogical training."
Most of Daniel's teaching experience has been as a university lecturer. He has taught undergraduate courses at Stanford and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In addition to lecturing, his responsibilities included assigning and grading student papers of 5 to 20 pages. With small class sizes, Daniel was able to mentor students and track and stimulate individual progress.
As a tutor, he has taught English as a Second Language to adults, and in 2014, started tutoring fifth graders in math and standardized test preparation. "I improve their knowledge and understanding of basic math, and also help them overcome their dread of taking tests," Daniel explains. Helping students develop self-confidence and improve study skills are some of his favorite parts of tutoring. "I enjoy developing rapport with students and bringing out their ability to excel academically," he says.
"Tutors must develop students' self-confidence," he says. "This requires trust, rapport, and collaboration between tutor and student." Daniel pays close attention to cues like the student's personality and willingness to contribute, as well as the task that needs to be done, in order to tailor his style for each student. "I like starting from the fundamentals, showing students where relevant formulas and rules come from," he says, "in order to help them gain a better understanding of what they are learning. Having a deeper understanding of topics will lead to more effective learning in that topic and improve study methods in other subjects."
In high school and college, Daniel was active in track, basketball, speech team, debate, and academic decathlon.
These days, he goes ballroom dancing three to four times a week and spends an hour every day studying a language! He reads Russian, Albanian, Serbian, Spanish, and German, and is currently studying Zapoteco, an indigenous language spoken in southern Mexico. Fun fact: Daniel has lived and built a house in Mexico!
