Laura K. has been a professional tutor for five years and has worked with PCH tutors for a year and a half. She originally hails from Geneva, Switzerland, but moved to Los Angeles and graduated from USC in 2013 with a B.A. in Cinema-Television Critical Studies. She worked in the Hollywood film industry for three years before deciding to go back to school and pursue a career in medicine, while also tutoring. She is currently in the process of applying to medical schools for internal medicine while working part-time in a research lab in the transgender surgery department at Cedars-Sinai and helping to create a self-help group for post-op trans patients.
What prompted your decision to make a radical career change?
I was unhappy professionally and hit a point where I couldn’t do anymore. I quit my job and went to Colorado to work as a ski instructor while I was figuring it out. About the same time, the first Ebola crisis was happening, and I kept seeing articles about horrible things related to that, and images of doctors helping patients. I was sitting in Aspen and started thinking, “I want to do that; I want to go and help other people that way.” I had always been interested in science, but that moment helped me realize that’s what I wanted to do. I took courses on Coursera - epidemiology and anatomy - and loved them. So once I finished my job in Aspen I came back and became a full-time student at Santa Monica College. I’m so happy with that decision.
Why did you become a tutor?
I tutored all throughout high school; when I went back to college I wanted to tutor with PCH Tutors so I could strengthen what I was learning in school and use it as a way to prepare myself for the MCAT and formalized post-bachelor’s program. I first started tutoring in the courses I had just completed at SMC - I knew the material, it was fresh and it was a way to solidify what I’d learned in class. After all, you don’t learn something as well until you teach it.
What do you love best about tutoring?
I approach classes differently with different students - I love trying to find creative ways to make material stick with the student. Whether it’s acting out something because that student learns best through movement, or whether it’s creating quizzes - the challenge of adapting to a student’s needs is really fun. I love watching students make it over their hurdles. As a tutor, you’re typically brought on to help a student who is having trouble doing something. You already know they can do it, but to help them realize they can do whatever it is they had a total mental block over is super rewarding.
What has been one of your most memorable tutoring experiences?
One of my students had to do a research project for school so we used the opportunity to get her used to doing research at a college. We went to the UCLA library and turned it into a whole afternoon excursion. She took the lead on research and I sat back and marveled that she’s getting ready to go to college! It was really exciting - and she wound up getting an A on the project.
What’s a fun fact about you?
I am a competitive downhill skier - I competed through high school and college, and I’m a certified ski instructor. I really enjoy both road and mountain cycling. I’m also really into cooking: in fact, I just made coffee cake! But homemade pastas and sauces are my speciality because my parents enrolled me in cooking school all through high school, and two of those years focused specifically on Italian cooking.
What’s some advice you’d like to share with students?
It’s easy for students to get overwhelmed by larger projects. It helps to break a larger project into smaller, more attainable goals and check those off one at a time.
