Tutoring @ TJ’s

THE GOOD
For me, the best appointments are with motivated clients who want my help. It is always really nice when you can help someone improve their writing, teach them about punctuation, help them figure out how to write a thesis, or help them learn to solve economics problems. I like helping people do well; especially when they have the capability to do well, but simply have had teachers that were unable to relay information in an effective manner.

THE BAD

I hate when I get appointments with students whose whole reason for being there is because they have to. These sessions are usually not as productive as when the client cares because the student is not interested in what I have to say, and expects me to just fix their mistakes for them while they sit idly in their chair, staring off into space. I particularly detest when I am reading a paper aloud so that they can hear their mistakes, and they do not pay any attention to me–I’m not reading this aloud for my health people! Some would say that an alternative to this would be to have the client read the paper, but then I don’t catch as many mistakes.

THE UGLY

I don’t think there really is an ugly. Maybe this one time when a client did not show up after 15 minutes, so I logged them off as a no-show and left, then 15 minutes after I left (30 minutes after the appointment was supposed to begin) the receptionist called and said that the client had showed up and asked if I could come back. I said yes because I was trying to be polite, but I was actually pretty angry that the receptionist even called me. I was under the impression that I do not have to leave and then come back just because my client finally decided that he would show up. I was therefore angry at both the receptionist and the client had to try reallllllllly hard to be nice. By the end of the appointment, I was no longer angry with the client but I was a little angry with the receptionist for calling when I was no longer obligated to be there since my client did not bother to show up anywhere near on time.