Bearcat Buddies Lead Tutor

What was involved

The Bearcat Buddies Lead Tutor experience involved myself participating in the regular Bearcat Buddies experience once a week at Roll Hill elementary school, but it was supplemented by me serving as a liason between the school and UC, reporting ways we could improve the bearcat buddies experience, reduce absense, recruit more members, increase cultural humility, etc. Each lead tutor would be placed on a commitee, mine being Professional Development. Lastly, I would be the main source of communication for tutors at the school.

What I learned from the experience

I learned through my experience that everyone bearcat buddy learns differently, and certain ways of teaching may be more compatitble with one individual than another. Similarily, I noticed that the tutor-tutee matching process also requires compatibility between the two individuals. For example, when observing a CPS student misbehaving and unmotivated, I suggested he be put with another tutor. Unbeknownst to me, the new match worked significantly better. When I asked why, I learned that the other tutor had expansive knowledge about basketball, which the student had a passion for. The shared interest allowed the student to open up and find the motivation to finish the assignments that day. As a result, this experience allowed me to not only gain cultural humility, but learn that a good mentor/mentee pairing goes a long way. 

How it impacted my life

The Bearcat Buddies Lead Tutor experience impacted my life by not only teaching me about good management skills, how to resolve conflict and be a good observer. Being a Bearcat Buddies representative at one whole school required me to actively promote attendance, report absent tutors, and how we could reduce the number of drop out tutors and ways to improve the program by reducing these drop out rates. In addition, conflict resolution was a skill that was definitely tested in the position, as not every tutor-tutee match worked out. I was encouraged to instill discipline in the students, while at the same time remaining patient, respectful, and culturally humble. Lastly, observing different tutor-tutee relationships allowed me to point out the teaching strategies that have worked the best, making the learning process more enjoyable and productive. Overall, the experience taught me to be a more humble, respectful leader who can instill discipline while being culturally humble.