When I was 10, I decided that I when I was old enough, I wanted to be one of the lifeguards that worked at a wading pool for the summer. They looked so cool and I wanted to be cool. (Spoiler Alert: I’ve never been cool; then or now.) As soon as I turned 16 I took an NLS (National Lifeguard Service) course, first aid course, and my swimming instructors course. Boom! Qualified lifeguard. It took a few years of life guarding before I made it to a wading pool, but I did get there eventually. I actually spent most of my pool time teaching swimming lessons. Learn to Swim lessons for children and adults, as well as a variety of fitness classes. This continued for my entire life guarding career. I loved it so much. There’s a great feeling of accomplishment when you are able to gain the trust of a very scared 3 year old and have them jumping into the pool with abandon in just 8 weeks.
I continued life guarding through university. I attended the University of Guelph and received a Bachelors of Science, with Specialized Honours in Chemistry. After university, I worked as an Application Scientist for a large instrumentation company. I traveled across North America installing equipment, troubleshooting problems, and teaching users how to make the most of their systems. This was another job I loved; helping people understand how something works. After having kids, travelling at a moment’s notice became significantly harder. As a family we made the decision for me to stay home with the little ones.
I have come to realize that the part
of my jobs I liked the most was helping people: helping people learn and
helping people solve problems.
This is what I aim to do as a tutor: provide students with strategies to solve
problems so they can make the most of their education.