Troy tutors show love after Tutor Appreciation Week

Last week was recognized nationally as Tutor Appreciation Week, and even though that time of recognition has come to an end, Troy University’s Learning Center never stops helping students that are struggling. 

The Learning Center focuses not only on helping the students understand difficult topics but also motivating them to give their all inside the classroom and after graduation. 

“When you know somebody is here and working on your side, it does motivate you,” said Rebecca Money Normans, director of the Learning Center. “We want to see every student enrolled here at Troy succeed academically, persist through graduation and go out and live their best life, be that leader in the industry, be that model in the community.” 

The tutoring services at the Learning Center are all peer-tutoring services, meaning they are provided by students, typically only a couple of semesters farther along than the student in need. That means students are being helped along by someone their age who recently sat in the same class with the same professor, learning the same material. 

“It’s great to have somebody of your generation,” Normans said. “They speak your verbiage, they speak your language, they understand the dynamics that you are passing through, and hopefully it’s somebody that can even develop a mentoring relationship with you at some point.  

“Mentors can be friends for life at times.” 

For some of the tutors, the Learning Center is more than an opportunity to help their peers succeed. It’s an opportunity to gain the experience they need for their future plans. 

“I’ve always loved helping people, and I’ve always loved math, and this is just a great way for me to kind of prep being a math teacher later and get comfortable with my own skills,” said Emily Kolb, a junior math education major from [uh oh whoopsies I'll send you the hometown when I get it]. 

For others, the motivation for being a tutor comes from the impact they’re having on their fellow students – being able to watch as their confidence and ability in that field grows. 

“Writing tutors typically don’t get a lot of comeback because if we tutor someone really well,  they usually don't need to come back,” said Ryan Hardeman, a graduate assistant and AI and writing tutor. "The ones who do come back usually show up with big improvements.  

“I have a couple of repeat students and when I have them back, they’ll say something about how their grade or the teachers' comments have really improved. It’s great to see people come back and hear how well they’ve done.” 

Kolb shared a similar sentiment. 

“One of the biggest things that has pushed me to be a math teacher is that lightbulb moment they get when they understand something,” Kolb said. “It’s so wonderful; it’s such a great feeling just to know that I’m helping them, and they’re growing and they get to understand it now.” 

The Learning Center is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.