Darla Hagerman came back to school as an adult and after not writing an essay in over 30 years she says she was fortunate enough to find the Writing and Language Development Center(WLDC) where she now says she feels “at home.”
For students seeking tutoring can be something they put off, whether it be for writing like Hagerman, or math like myself, or any of the other subjects taught on campus.
Hagerman says she found the WLDC by accident but ended up amazed at the knowledge the tutors had and quickly felt like she fit right in. During her time getting tutored she says she had one spot where she would always sit that they called her desk.
Hagerman grew to love the tutoring center and gained skills enough that she is now tutoring in the WLDC for others. She says, “ At first I was scared and I felt like an imposter but then I realized I didn’t have to have all the answers, I just needed to know where to find them and show them where.”
It is important for students being tutored to feel like they are being tutored by an equal. Someone who is their peer tutoring is less intimidating than having an expert in the field most often. In the writing center peers “make suggestions not proofread” say Rosemary McKeever, Instructional Associate in the WLDC.
The counterpart to the WLDC is the College Success Center (CSC) where Instructional Assistants Tony Jow and Quy Bui sign students up for tutoring in mostly the math and science fields.
“Pass rates for those who attend tutoring are definitely higher,” says Jow.
Pass rates for tutored students versus those not tutored in math courses see a grade point average (gpa) increase of 13.9% and have a 10% higher pass rate when compared with students who do not attend tutoring.
According to Bui and Jow, some of the lowest pass rates they see are in courses like Math 101 and 111, which are commonly considered remedial classes. The key is time and motivation.
Bui says, “A lot of students give up before they start.”
Jow and Bui say they definitely have students who began coming to get tutoring and ended up becoming tutors later on. Students like Kayleigh Pontif, who began the Yuba College chapter of Secular Student Alliance and is now continuing that at the Sacramento State Campus, where she is studying Environmental Science, no doubt owe their success to their involvment with the CSC tutoring program.
It seems the key in getting tutoring and being successful is getting started on it as soon as one can in the semester. If you are a parent, family member, or significant other of a student, understanding and being supportive of the time spent in tutoring is very important to support the success of your loved one. If you are a student get into the centers and get started as soon as possible, its not too late.
*** This story, which originally appeared in our printed edition, was modified and updated for name accuracy within the article.
I hold both an AS in Social and Behavioral Sciences and an AA in English from Yuba College. I have been on the editorial board of Flumes, literary arts journal, and contribute to the publication of The Western Farm Worker. No one knows what the future holds!
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