School. Work. Family. Hobbies. As busy as you can be during the semester, volunteering can be a rewarding experience, especially for students planning on entering the educational field.

In The Learning Center, located in building 5 on the first floor in room 5100, students have the opportunity to volunteer as peer tutors. For the first semester, tutors receive extensive training in the program, which includes shadowing of either grad-students or faculty members who are tutoring. Together they collaborate with each other, so that these peer tutors learn as much as they can about teaching, about how to be an educator.”

“[Peer tutors] receive plenty of support from faculty and staff…so that they have a better understanding about what is going on in a tutoring session and in the writing and reading lab,” said John Saenz, of the Language Arts and Learning Resources division in the Learning Center.

By the end of the second semester, trainees will be facilitating workshops with other peer tutors, grad tutors, and with faculty. They will also be able to observe the instructor and use that to become a better tutor. Students who excel in the program will be present in a class with a professor during every session so that they can learn about group teaching, group dynamics, and the difference between being in the position of instructor as opposed to being the student. The tutor volunteer opportunity is ideal for students who wish to become educators because it affords them the opportunity to learn the different aspects of learning.

“A lot of these things that they will be learning and experiencing here as a tutor will build to their life as they transfer to a different college and grad school,” said Saenz.

An ideal candidate is someone who is motivated and does well in their English classes, who wants to learn, and who has good interpersonal communication skills.

If you’re looking to become an educator, are especially passionate about a specific subject, or just want the experience of teaching and helping others, this may be the place for you. It’s right on campus and easily accessible, and will grant students the opportunity to grow, not just as a tutor, but also as a future professional in the field.

If you aren’t ready to volunteer in the learning center, but want to check it out, remember that there are a number of resources available. These include the Writing and Reading Lab, The ESOL Lab, the Language Lab, the Communications Studies Lab, the Math and Sciences Lab, and other tutoring dependent on the availability of additional tutors.

Peer Tutoring and supplemental instruction is available to students enrolled in a Learning Center(LSKL) course. If you have any questions or need a little extra help, it is open Monday through Thursday: 8am-7pm and Friday: 8am to 4pm.