Originally from Richland, Washington, Annie K. is a senior at Pepperdine University, majoring in biology and minoring in Spanish. She’s planning to attend med school next year and hopes to utilize both her medical and Spanish skills to reach a broad demographic.

First things first. How are you dealing with this global pandemic?

Our classes have switched over to online and I live in an apartment off-campus so I chose not to go home [to Washington state] and just quarantine myself here. A lot of people are nervous. It’s a big deal for certain populations and it’s important not to panic too much but seriously continue to contain it and protect at-risk populations. 

How did you choose what to study in college?

I wanted to go into medicine - and I’m going to med school next year, probably Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. At Pepperdine, I chose to major in biology toward that end, and after studying abroad in Argentina I picked up a lot of Spanish and decided to minor in it. 

Studying abroad is such an incredible opportunity. How was Argentina?

Argentina was amazing. I stayed with a host family and got to really integrate into the culture that way. I learned a ton of Spanish. In southeastern Washington, where I’m from, there’s actually a large Spanish-speaking population, so my skills will be applicable if I end up back there.

Any plans, goals, hopes, and dreams for what you’d like to do post-med school?

Something that’s always been exciting for me is to be active in community service - both globally and locally - and engaging all of those opportunities. I know they have some hospitals serving homeless people in Omaha, so I’m excited to get involved with that and general healthcare in the area during med school. Who knows where I’ll end up, though! I’m trying to keep an open mind.

How’d you get started tutoring? 

I’ve been involved in tutoring at Pepperdine since freshman year and I’ve always really enjoyed it. My friend Alex recommended PCH Tutors, and when I looked into it I thought it was a cool way to connect with my surrounding community and branch out from the isolated campus. 

What’s your favorite subject to tutor?

I really like tutoring biology. I find it the most interesting to me so find it easy to get excited while tutoring it. I love the little lightbulb moments that happen with students where suddenly everything clicks for them. 

What’s been your biggest tutoring challenge?

I think a big thing for me is figuring out how to motivate some of the students. Sometimes it’s hard to care about something when it doesn’t impact you directly in the future. Pre-calculus and biology can be especially tough sometimes. I think it’s important to tie school into real-life applications. Personally, when there is something I don’t feel passionate about, if I can think about how it connects to medicine it makes me more interested. Making a subject or problem connect with something a student wants to do or real life is important. 

Throughout my experiences tutoring I’ve definitely seen a broad array of learning styles which has opened my mind to see things from different perspectives because in order to explain something, sometimes you have to understand how they’re seeing it. I’m super visual but some students are completely the opposite so figuring that out has been a challenge. It’s definitely opened my mind. People see the world in such different ways, and you see that when you’re engaging with someone learning something new. 

Who is your educational inspiration?

I didn’t have tutors when I was younger but my mom was an elementary school teacher and stayed home with me when I was younger so I’ve definitely gotten my love of learning from my mom and my love of teaching others as well. 

What are your hobbies?

I love being outdoors and there’s a lot of great hiking in the area. I love paddle boarding, and reading by the beach or pool are some of my favorite things. 

Have you read anything good lately you’d recommend? 

I just finished Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. It was really good'; I enjoyed it. It’s cool how he explains social issues and forces you to think about them in a new way. The statistics he pulled out for certain hard-hitting topics like harassment and suicide were powerful. I never would have thought about those subjects like that. 

What’s a life mantra you think is important?

Something that helps when tutoring is to remind myself - and others - to take life one day at a time. When it comes to learning new things, take one concept at a time, then focus on the big picture. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with everything going on, whether it's your day-to-day life or whatever chapter you’re going over in school.