My name is Elizabeth O. and I have been successfully helping middle school, high school and college students in Raleigh excel in their most challenging subjects for over two years now. I discovered my love of tutoring when I volunteered with a Homework Club for inner city children struggling to complete their assigned tasks. During my high school years and after, I regularly helped these children with their specific assignments and then moved on to flash cards or reading depending on what they needed most. Many of these children were not only appallingly far behind their grade level but lacked the discipline to complete an assignment without getting distracted. The challenge was not just to help them understand their work but also to hold their attention long enough to complete it. Tutoring at Homework Club taught me to adapt to each child's strengths and weaknesses while hopefully finding the teaching style that would enable them to complete assignments on their own—lessons that will apply to any student with whom I get the opportunity to work.
I graduated second in my class with a 4.3 GPA (weighted for advanced courses) from a private, Catholic girls school outside Philadelphia in 2005. I faced a choice—pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer or continue my studies at either the University of Chicago (where I was admitted with a $40,000 merit scholarship) or the University of Pennsylvania. Knowing that my time to dance was limited, I chose to defer from the University of Chicago. They kindly held my place and scholarship for two years while I trained intensively. When after four years I was ready to audition, the recession was beginning and even the largest and wealthiest ballet companies were laying off dancers. With professional ballet job prospects grim, I re-applied and was re-admitted to the University of Chicago. An offer from Carolina Ballet convinced me to once again turn down my acceptance and I am in my second year with the company.
Working part-time in addition to the full-time ballet classes and rehearsals has precluded my college classwork. But I have spent much of my spare time reading: British, American and art history, Dante's The Divine Comedy and the complete works of Shakespeare. When at home, my father (a Ph.D.) and I discussed Plato's Republic, Thomas More's Utopia and BF Skinner's Walden Two. Though I have no doubt I would have benefited from a teacher's instruction and insight, the knowledge I acquired is valuable in that I had the desire and necessary discipline to acquire it entirely on my own.
Some of my test results: I received a 1480 (out of 1600) on my SAT with a perfect 800 in Verbal. My SAT II Writing score was a 760 with a 770 in Literature and 780 in US History. I scored 5 out of 5 in AP French and AP US History and a 4 in AP English.
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