The Joy of Teaching

The sudden change to virtual schooling left many teachers and students unprepared to adapt in a virtual environment. Teachers had a hard time connecting with students and cheating was prevalent. Co-founding Project Edge gives me the opportunity to work with all sorts of people and has given me a more complete perspective on the pandemic’s effects on education.

I recently spoke with a high school teacher from the LA Unified School District. She noted how the pandemic disproportionately affected people of color, with many of her students losing their loved ones to the virus. Dealing with personal loss and juggling their increased responsibility in their families, students were rarely able to attend school. For those who did go to school, the depression caused by quarantine caused zoom calls to be silent, with teachers often lecturing to a collection of blank screens.

Unfortunately, the pandemic caused enterprising private tutors to offer their services, many hiking up their prices to take advantage of already struggling students. Studying in an affluent area myself, offering high quality peer to peer tutoring allows me to make a real difference in the world.

I recently taught two brothers from LA Unified. Both had many overdue assignments and their mother was unable to help both boys with their homework. Though I often went longer than the allocated 30 minutes per session, offering my help was never a hassle. The gratitude I received for my service made me proud to be a Project Edge tutor and gave me a more complete perspective on life.