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UC Irvine Grad: ESL, AP Tutoring & Test Prep, & College Essay Editing
Olivia K.

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Hourly Rate: $40
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About Olivia

Bio

Hello! My name is Olivia, and I hold a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Irvine. For the last five years, I have been tutoring students on how to write well, do appropriate research, and develop good study skills. I provide tutoring for AP U.S. History, AP World History, AP European History, and AP Language and Composition, and assist students with editing their college application essays from pre-planning through final proofreading. I also specialize in working...

Hello! My name is Olivia, and I hold a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Irvine. For the last five years, I have been tutoring students on how to write well, do appropriate research, and develop good study skills. I provide tutoring for AP U.S. History, AP World History, AP European History, and AP Language and Composition, and assist students with editing their college application essays from pre-planning through final proofreading. I also specialize in working with English as a Second Language (ESL) learners – specifically, students moving from China to the United States who require assistance in adjusting to American culture, language, and academic standards.

My tutoring is student-focused, practical, and encouraging. I promote effective, perceptive writing and clear historical thinking; I provide study routines and techniques that promote healthy long-term study habits; I provide multiple organizational systems and tools to teach you how to manage your time; and I educate you on how to study effectively and efficiently; I offer in-person and online tutoring (via Zoom, VooV, and Wyzant) and essay editing services with flexible hours (including evenings and weekends). Tutoring services offered include: 1) AP class tutoring and AP Exam prep with timed essay practice (multiple-choice, DBQ, FRQ with rubric-based feedback); 2) high school level writing (thesis development, structure, voice); 3) college admissions essays editing (focused revisions of common app, supplemental & personal statement essays); and 4) English language tutoring and general support for ESL students.

Our initial meeting will involve doing a short assessment (practice question, essay, or homework review), establishing goals for both the short and long term, and creating an individualized plan. If you feel like I can help you on your educational path, send me a message when you are ready to start!

Thank you for your time and consideration.

-Olivia Kassien

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Education

University of California, Irvine
History

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $40
  • Rate details: I kindly request that the student include the cost of my rideshare to and from each in-person session (receipts available upon request) in the payment for each session. Thank you for understanding.
  • Lesson cancellation: 24 hours notice required

  • Background check passed on 3/10/2026

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

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Approved Subjects

American History

American History

I have a B.A. in History from UC Irvine and five years of one‑on‑one experience preparing students for AP U.S History. I enjoy teaching chronological and thematic thinking, in class essay-writing strategies with rubric‑aligned feedback, document analysis, and clear evidence‑based comparative writing. My sessions are practical, encouraging, and goal‑oriented, with personalized plans, targeted practice exams, and concrete strategies for note‑taking, test‑taking, and long‑term study routines. I also support English learners and aim to reduce AP stress while building confidence and lasting skills.
Art History

Art History

With over five years of one-on-one and small-group tutoring experience, I help students build art history skills—visual analysis, contextual interpretation, and research-based writing—drawing on coursework I completed as part of my History major and European Languages & Studies minor, where I excelled in all art history classes. I also teach study skills specific to the discipline (image-based note-taking, thematic organization, museum-reading strategies, and exam prep) to boost confidence and measurable improvement in grades and assessments.
English

English

I have a B.A. in History from UC Irvine and five years of one‑on‑one experience helping high‑school students improve their writing, reading comprehension, and literary analysis. I enjoy working on thesis development, essay structure, voice, grammar, and college‑application essays, and I provide clear, rubric‑aligned feedback and thoughtful editing. I also specialize in supporting English learners transitioning to U.S. schools, helping them build confidence in their language and navigate academic expectations. My sessions are practical, encouraging, and tailored to each student’s goals. I not only help my students speak and use English grammar to become better writers; ultimately, I assist them in becoming more effective and confident communicators who, over time, master the English language to achieve their goals in life.
ESL/ESOL

ESL/ESOL

I have five years of one‑on‑one tutoring experience, both in‑person and online. I enjoy helping students who move from China to the U.S. build academic English—grammar, vocabulary, essay structure, presentation skills, and classroom participation—while teaching note‑taking, study routines, and test strategies that match American expectations. I offer gentle, culturally sensitive coaching on things like classroom culture, academic integrity, and communicating with teachers so students feel more comfortable and confident. I’ve also helped several past ESL students gain admission to their competitive private high schools of choice.
Essay Writing

Essay Writing

Throughout high school, I earned A's in AP World History, AP United States History, and AP Language and Composition. The rigors of these classes forced me to become a very strong writer. My time as a college History student only strengthened my writing skills, as most work was done through essays evaluating and analyzing historical events, contexts, important figures, and events, and how they have affected the world today. I have tutored students of all ages in various forms of essay-writing, such as college application essays, academic essays, and public speaches. I also had the difficult but very rewarding opportunity to help a doctoral student compile her resource sources for the doctoral thesis she was working on during the final year of her PhD studies. Writing has always been my strong suit, and I find great fulfillment in helping students who struggle with English or writing find their voices and learn skills that will last them throughout their entire professional and academic lives.
European History

European History

I have a B.A. in Medieval European History from UC Irvine and five years of one‑on‑one experience preparing students for AP European History. I enjoy teaching chronological and thematic thinking, DBQ and FRQ strategies with rubric‑aligned feedback, document analysis, and clear evidence‑based comparative writing. My sessions are practical, encouraging, and goal‑oriented, with personalized plans, targeted practice exams, and concrete strategies for note‑taking, test‑taking, and long‑term study routines. I also support English learners and aim to reduce AP stress while building confidence and lasting skills.
Geography

Geography

With over 5 years of one-on-one and small-group tutoring experience, I help students build geography skills—spatial reasoning, map reading, regional and human-environment analysis, and research-based writing—drawing on my academic background in history and related coursework. I also teach study skills specific to geography (map-based note-taking, thematic organization, data interpretation, and exam prep) to boost confidence and measurable improvement in grades and assessments.
High School Placement Test

High School Placement Test

Over the past five years I have worked daily with middle school students to strengthen their academics and prepare them for admission to private, college-preparatory high schools. I have tutored dozens of students for high school placement exams, drilling the core tested subjects—grammar, spelling, reading comprehension, writing, mathematics, history, and science—while building test-taking strategies, confidence, and long-term study skills. All of my students have been accepted into the high schools of their or their parents' choice.
Interview Prep

Interview Prep

I have over 5 years of experience helping students of all ages (ages range from 5-18 years old) prepare for job interviews, public speaking engagements, school transfer interviews, and college application interviews. In the past, I have prepared practice questions for my students in order to prepare them for possible interview topics they will need to know the answers to when their in-person or online interviews come around. I also help students prepare how to sit, stand, shake hands properly, introduce themselves, and how to properly dress themselves for their school or job interviews. Every student I have helped has had a good experience so far and reported back to me that my preparatory sessions were of great use to them; they have said that they felt much more confident going into their interviews after practicing with me in advance. I have extensive experience preparing students who's families are currently or will be moving from China to the United Sates, and have interviews as part of their application process for the private schools they are applying to. For past students who speak English as a second language, they have told me that the preparation in advance was extremely helpful to them. I enjoy helping students prepare properly so they can confidently interview for their dream schools and/or job positions.
Literature

Literature

I have over five years of tutoring experience focused on the humanities, especially history, writing, and literature. I have assisted elementary, middle, high school, and college students in analyzing poetry, drama, novels, and short stories; creating thesis-driven essays; organizing paragraphs; effectively using textual evidence; and mastering citation styles (MLA/APA/Chicago). I prepare students for AP and other exams, timed-response prompts, coursework, and college application essays through guided practice and targeted feedback. I teach both in person and online.
Music History

Music History

I trained at the Orange County High School of the Arts (Opera Conservatory, grades 7–12), where I focused on Music History each year, and later earned A’s in two college-level Music History courses. I hold a B.A. in Medieval European History from UC Irvine. My conservatory background gives me practical insight into vocal technique, repertoire, and performance practice, while my academic history training helps me place works in their political, social, and cultural contexts. I combine close listening and score-based analysis with clear historical storytelling to help students understand why music sounds the way it does and how it reflected its time. I provide patient, focused tutoring—tailored readings, listening guides, contextual lectures, and essay or exam prep—to build both musical appreciation and academic confidence.
Proofreading

Proofreading

I have a B.A. in History from UC Irvine and five years of one‑on‑one experience helping high‑school students strengthen their writing, reading comprehension, and literary analysis. I love working with students on essay writing—helping them craft clear, compelling theses, build well‑organized paragraphs, and develop a confident personal voice. I give friendly, rubric‑aligned feedback on grammar, sentence clarity, tone, and academic conventions, and I offer step‑by‑step help with college‑application essays from brainstorming through final proofreading so each draft feels authentic and polished. I teach essay writing tailored to different courses and purposes: DBQs, FRQs, and comparative essays for AP World/US/European History; rhetorical analysis, argumentation, and synthesis for AP English Language; close reading and literary analysis essays for literature classes; and longer research papers with thesis-driven arguments, source integration, and proper citation. I also enjoy supporting English learners, tailoring lessons to build language accuracy and comfort with U.S. academic expectations. My sessions are practical, encouraging, and individualized, with concrete strategies and small, achievable goals to help students see steady improvement.
Reading

Reading

Over the past five years I have worked with students of all ages to strengthen their reading skills, focusing on decoding and fluency, vocabulary development, comprehension, inference, summarizing, and close reading. I build reading stamina, test-taking strategies, and long-term study habits to boost confidence and measurable improvement on assessments.
Social Studies

Social Studies

Over the past five years I have worked with students of all ages to strengthen their social studies skills, focusing on historical thinking, chronology, civic literacy, primary-source analysis, and comparative regional studies. I teach content mastery (U.S. and world history, civics, geography, and economics), critical-reading of secondary sources, evidence-based essay writing, and research methods, while building study routines, note-taking systems, and exam strategies to boost confidence and measurable improvement on coursework and assessments.
Spelling

Spelling

Over the past five years, I have worked with students of all ages to strengthen their spelling skills, focusing on phonics, word patterns, syllabication, and common exceptions. I teach systematic practice strategies (mnemonics, dictation, targeted drills), integrate vocabulary instruction, and build study routines and test-taking techniques to boost confidence and measurable improvement.
Study Skills

Study Skills

With over five years of one-on-one and small-group tutoring experience in literature, I help students strengthen close reading, literary analysis, and academic writing. I also focus on improving study skills—time management, note-taking, test preparation, and critical-reading strategies—so students gain confidence and measurable improvement in grades and exam performance. I helped one student in particular learn how to take notes efficiently during class so it was easier for him to complete his homeowrk outsie of the classroom and then use those notes to study for th exam. We began using other strategies like flashcards, practice exams, writing out the definitions for key vocabulary, and other study skills that with time, came more and more easily to him and eventually raised his exam scores and overall grade in every major class he had been behind in prior to retaining me as his tutor.
TOEFL

TOEFL

In 2022, I tutored an 8th-grade student who had just moved from China to the U.S. He and his family were worried he wasn’t academically prepared for his new school and the TOEFL exam required for assessment and private high school admission. I worked with him to build his skills using flashcards, essay writing, vocabulary, and reading exercises, gradually increasing his stamina for the lengthy test. To keep him engaged, we broke study sessions into manageable parts with clear goals and deadlines. As a result, he did very well on the exam, gave a great interview, and was accepted to his top-choice high school with a large scholarship.
United States History

United States History

I have a B.A. in History from UC Irvine and five years of one‑on‑one experience preparing students for AP U.S History. I enjoy teaching chronological and thematic thinking, DBQ and FRQ strategies with rubric‑aligned feedback, document analysis, and clear evidence‑based comparative writing. My sessions are practical, encouraging, and goal‑oriented, with personalized plans, targeted practice exams, and concrete strategies for note‑taking, test‑taking, and long‑term study routines. I also support English learners and aim to reduce AP stress while building confidence and lasting skills.
Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Over the past five years I have worked with students of all ages to strengthen their vocabulary, focusing on word roots, prefixes and suffixes, morphology, context clues, and multiple-meaning words. I teach targeted strategies—word maps, etymology-based learning, contextual practice, and spaced-repetition techniques—integrated with reading and writing exercises to improve retention, usage, and performance on quizzes and standardized tests.
World History

World History

I have a B.A. in Medieval European History from UC Irvine and five years of one‑on‑one experience preparing students for AP World History. I enjoy teaching chronological and thematic thinking, DBQ and FRQ strategies with rubric‑aligned feedback, document analysis, and clear evidence‑based comparative writing. My sessions are practical, encouraging, and goal‑oriented, with personalized plans, targeted practice exams, and concrete strategies for note‑taking, test‑taking, and long‑term study routines. I also support English learners and aim to reduce AP stress while building confidence and lasting skills.
Writing

Writing

I’m a UC Irvine grad (B.A. in Medieval European History) with five years of one‑on‑one tutoring experience, in‑person and online. I help students become confident writers by teaching thesis development, clear paragraph structure, voice/tone, sentence-level clarity (grammar/syntax), and revision strategies. I coach analytical and literary essays, argumentative pieces, DBQs/FRQs, research papers (source use and citation), and college‑application essays. Lessons are practical and supportive—brainstorming, outlining, timed practice, targeted mini‑lessons, and rubric‑aligned feedback so students leave each session with clear next steps.

Examples of Expertise

Olivia has provided examples of their subject expertise by answering 3 questions submitted by students on Wyzant’s Ask an Expert.

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Hourly Rate: $40
Contact Olivia