Alison

Certified Tutor

I am a graduate of Harvard University, Fordham University, and the Mindful Schools' Yearlong Certification Program in Mindfulness* Education. During my undergraduate years at Harvard, I studied Sociology and African Studies and spent a semester studying and discovering another culture in Accra, Ghana, in West Africa. After working in Ghana for a year after graduation, I returned to the United States, received my Master's from Fordham through the New York City Teaching Fellows program, and spent the last six years teaching a wide range of subjects, including mindfulness, in Brooklyn public middle and high schools. I have also worked as a teacher trainer and coach. Right now, I am applying to doctoral programs, teaching mindfulness to people of all ages (both one-on-one and in groups), and tutoring. My passion lies in helping students achieve their potential by providing high-quality, tailored instruction coupled with skillful, compassionate attention to the variety of factors that affect each student's ability to succeed, such as environmental stressors and self-limiting beliefs. I enjoy tutoring students in anything Englishrelated, especially college and grad school personal statement writing and academic writing in general, as well as middle school math, pre-algebra, and algebra. In my spare time, I love to dance, learn languages, attend yoga classes, read about anything and everything, drink tea, and hear people's life stories.

*Mindfulness refers to paying nonjudgmental, compassionate attention to whatever arises in one's moment-to-moment experience, such as thoughts and feelings, training people to become more aware of what they are experiencing, replacing impulsive reactions with more thoughtful responses. Research has found that mindfulness training has a significant effect on students' and teachers' focus, stress management, impulse control, and relationships.