I was born into a family of teachers – my maternal great-grandfather, grandfather, aunt, uncle, and mom were teachers. My aunt, uncle, and mom eventually became school principals and later professors at local universities. As a result, the environment in which I grew up was rich with both natural and structured learning. When it came to homework, difficulty in Math, or my French lessons, there was no one I wanted to study with less than with my very qualified mom. It just didn’t work. Fortunately, my mom saw the limitations in our own relationship and hired a tutor when I would benefit most. Fast forward to high school, my mom was the one who encouraged me to become a tutor myself. With a healthy amount of teenage resistance, I agreed. It took no time at all to fall in love with tutoring. When I worked with underprivileged children through a government program, I erroneously assumed I would be the one offering the child so much. Instead, I left our weekly sessions blown away by the unique aptitudes of each student and their immense substance. I found myself mulling over lesson plans and ways to learn through play for days before, wanting the absolute best for these people who relied on me to help take their French, Math, Reading, and other subjects to the next level. Over thirteen years of tutoring later, it remained something that both challenged and moved me.
When I came upon Monica, a tutor from AvidBrain‘s letter to her tutee, I was thrilled to see a variation on my own experiences encapsulated in a letter. The letter is to one of her students, William. A student with special needs, Will’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) was something Monica was aware of, yet felt did not sufficiently capture what Will’s special needs really were.
A wonderful representation of a student through the eyes of a tutor, here is her letter:
Dear William,
I knew you were special the minute we met. Every week, I am amazed by your mind, your knowledge, your emotions, your pure brilliance. There is something deeper and more profound to you than there is to any human being I have known in a while. You have greatness in you, and you need to know that and believe it. That is why I am writing this to know now. Because I know what you feel and the challenges that come with being misunderstood amongst those around you. However, I also know the joys and successes, as well as the possibilities for amazing things that people like us can experience and accomplish in life. It’s not always easy, but the ups and downs we experience make us stronger, more whole, and are ultimately worth it. Through it all, we come to truly know and believe that we are amazing and beautiful beings. We achieve love for ourselves and confidence in ourselves.
So to help you through all that, for the rest of this year and all that life brings you, I give you these words of wisdom. They are true now here at our desk, and will always be throughout your life. You have given me so much with all that you are, and this is the least I can do for you. Though, you can also expect more book gifts. J…For now, this is what I want you know and want you to know about yourself:
“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
– A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Be you! Be wonderful!
Your Friend,
Monica
To read more about Monica and William’s story, check out her entire articles on AvidBrain’s blog. Or to find a high calibre tutor like her, please visit AvidBrain.com to get more information.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by AvidBrain.com all opinions expressed are mine or opinions congruent with my own.
shelahmoss says
Monica sounds like an excellent tutor. I looked around on Avid and I found some tutors in our area. This is a great resource for ma as I always have people asking me to refer them to tutors.
Alana says
When I read her letter, Shelah, I thought of your work. Her letter is so inline with the heart of what you do.
Shann says
Wow. She sounds like an amazing person and teacher. It’s really wonderful that you were also a tutor, and learned so much yourself.
Alana says
Thanks Shann 🙂
Megan VW says
Beautiful letter. As a teacher myself, I understand how students can inspire people like Monica to be great. I hope she continues being an awesome tutor.
Alana says
Thanks for writing, Megan! I bet you can relate 🙂
workingmommagic says
This is so sweet! My son has a tutor too and she is so complimentary to him. She calls me with updates and she picks on things about him that I don’t always see.
Alana says
That’s so awesome! I think tutors are an amazing asset, but I’m a bit biased 🙂
What Mama Wants (@whatmamawants) says
Soooo touching! Monica sounds like a person who has found her true calling in life and her students are blessed beyond measure to have her in their lives!
Alana says
What a beautiful comment! Thank you so much for reading!
twitchetts.com says
I would love to have someone like that for my son. If we even need a tutor we will be checking back on this site. It is great when they can make such a good bond with a child.
Alana says
Thanks so much for reading and for your thoughtful comment <3
mrsmuffintop says
So sweet! I love the quotes at the end (how can you wrong with Winnie the Pooh?). Definitely going to check out Avid! Thank you!
mamabyfire says
What a wonderful letter. Monica is obviously doing what she was called to do. She clearly loves it! How cool that you were a tutor for so long! What an incredible experience to touch so many lives!
Alana says
Thanks so much! It was a great way to help pay for university and then have some income when I was pregnant and even on mat leave. I still think of many of my students often <3 and I agree, Monica is awesome!!!
Monica says
Hi Alana and Friends!
Alana, thank you for featuring my letter and blog on your page! It is an honor and privilege to be held in such high regard by moms and fellow educators in our world. It’s also been amazing, faith-renewing, and humbling for me to see how much my letter to Will and our relationship resonates with everyone. More often than not, it’s easy to take what appears to be the “easy way out” with students and individuals who stand out from the rest for any given reason. Though, after my experiences and learning about the similar experiences of others, especially similar actions we all took and continue to take, I am hopeful that as time progresses, we will become more mindful as a whole society and human family to ensure that all students and individuals are nurtured and supported appropriately in their journey to success.
To all the amazing moms, parents, educators, and “big buddies” all over, thank you for everything you do!
Warmly,
Monica
Natasha says
What a sweet and very heartfelt letter from Monica. I wish everyone had this attitude toward our sweet children! I really enjoyed learning a little more about you and your background to Alana!
triciathegoodmama says
What a wonderful letter! She sounds like an amazing tutor. I’ve thought about doing a little tutoring while I’m home. As the school year rolls around, I find myself missing teaching.
Alana says
It’s very fulfilling even though you are taking a break from kids to be with kids. I think you’d enjoy it 🙂
Ellen Oliveira says
Wow, that’s a whole lot of teachers/educators in your family and what a wonderful tutoring program and tutor. I love when a teacher really cares about their students. They have such a huge involvement in our children’s lives.
erinsumego says
I love this post – very sweet and spoken from the heart! I was an ESL teacher at a low income school until recently but would love to tutor now part-time.