I never thought I would be a tutor.

When I was a student, I would never take a toilet break during tuition classes. I wanted to maximise the use of my tutor's time down to the last minute.

My parents spent a lot on my education, and I understood the weight of that at a young age. (they didn't complete theirs)

Years later, I (along with my younger sis, who also became a teacher) would be fortunate enough to be the first grandchildren on both sides of the family tree to graduate with our college degrees.

I liked feeling ahead in classes. I liked knowing what I know. And I liked being confident.

I also hated feeling lost. Not knowing what I didn't know.

And I felt that firsthand in 2013, when I entered NYJC.

Economics. Killed. Me. (as a student)

Which brought me to the doorstep of my first economics tutor. (although tbh he kinda came to my doorstep instead) Also, funny story, we are working together now. (more on that next time)

I wasn't the best student myself. I enjoyed studying, but I wasn't naturally top of the class. What got me through was pushing myself, the same thing I ask of my own students now.

So, I started teaching.

And I made some mistakes. Expected too much from students at the start. Had to learn how to teach better, speak slower, be better.

So every year is a journey for me too.

Every term, I get handed a small window into someone's life at a genuinely stressful moment. An exam that matters more than they'd admit. A subject making them feel stupid when they're not. A deadline that feels bigger than it should.

For an hour or two a week, I get to be the person who makes that a little less overwhelming.

That's not a small thing to be trusted with.

Parents are handing over their kid's confidence, in a way. Students are showing me the parts of their thinking they're most embarrassed about. The wrong answers. The misunderstandings. The "I don't get it" moments most people would rather hide.

I don't take that lightly.

I started this blog for a similar reason to why I started tutoring in the first place.

A classroom, even a small one, is still a room with a limit on how many people can fit in it.

There are a lot more people out there who've felt exactly the way I did as a student than I'll ever get to sit across from at a desk.

Writing here is my way of reaching a few more of them anyway.

This blog isn't going to replace an actual lesson. It's not really meant to.

Some of it will be Economics-adjacent. Most of it won't. Whatever else doesn't fit neatly into a classroom, like stories I've wanted to tell but haven't had the chance to, or the time to.

But if writing something here means one more person feels a little less alone in whatever they're stuck on, academic or otherwise, that's reason enough to keep doing it.

So, thank you, if you're reading this.

Whether you're a current student, a parent, or just someone who found this page by accident, I'm glad you're here.