PrepNow Tutor - Brendan P.
A fun-loving geek obsessed with math, Brendan holds a BS in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MS in polymers and coatings science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Before graduate school, Brendan tutored math and science and worked briefly in the non-profit sector, doing database maintenance for an oceanography non-profit. Since earning his master’s degree, he has worked at multiple companies on the formulation of polymer and paint products. He currently runs the quality control lab at a solvent-based paint company.
Brendan started tutoring when he was a freshman in high school and his best friend's little brother needed help with middle school math. “It was very exciting to share my knowledge and fun memory tricks!” Brendan continued tutoring math at the middle and elementary school levels throughout high school. In college, he expanded to teaching algebra, geometry, pre-calculus, calculus, linear algebra, physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, engineering, and test prep.
"I like to lead with questions,” Brendan says when asked about his tutoring style. “I have found it very difficult to help a student if I do not have a starting point of their understanding. I also frequently ask ‘Why?’ when going over problems.” Brendan explains this approach has two major benefits: “First, I can make sure the student is engaged in what we are talking about. Second, I can understand more of how their understanding is progressing as we work together. A tutoring interaction will only be successful if the tutor is open to adapting their explanations, so it is important to me to be the best teacher possible by personalizing how I explain confusing material!” For instance, Brendan tries to relate instruction to students' hobbies or their other favorite subjects to make them more engaged and aid understanding.
In high school, Brendan was very involved in marching and jazz bands and was the (self-proclaimed) captain of the quiz bowl team. In college, he also participated in concert and jazz bands and coached his high school's quiz bowl team. He won the Outstanding Graduate Student award from the Graduate Education department at Cal Poly SLO.
Brendan enjoys going to farmer's markets, reading fiction and philosophy, and playing the saxophone. He’s also really into making paint. When asked to share a fun fact, Brendan says, “I am an identical twin and I'm married to a triplet! Everyone was sure we would have twins too but our first is a singleton.”
