I have been around the block here at Stevens. I’ve participated in the newspaper, I am a part of an Honor’s Society, I’ve had my run-in’s with the SGA and Office of Student Life, and I’ve even participated in some rituals for IUA, (photography with The Stute can get pretty hands-on). Therefore, I think I’m pretty qualified to have credible opinions about a lot of things on campus, including our Academic Support Center.
Now to preface this, I am a tutor. So if you’ve been in the Walk-In Tutor Center, there is a good chance you’ve seen me. Also, it means that I am biased as hell.
I am afraid that not enough students know about this system, so I will advertise it just a little here, because it is one of the few things at Stevens I can support and promote of my own will.
Through the Academic Support Center, you can get a free tutor. Now what does that mean? That means that you can get a connection, a study buddy, an intelligent person who is being paid to care, for free, to help you with whatever subject you request. There are a LOT of classes that you can request help in, (unfortunately, popular demand is increasing in more difficult classes, but that is a story for another time.) So really, if you are having trouble in Mechanics with mastering physics? Yeah, you can get someone with whom you can schedule regular appointments to keep you on top of things for Mastering Physics. Moreover, if you are just stuck on that one problem in Differential Equations, did you know that you could just walk right up to the Walk-In Tutor Center and ask anyone for help?
The Academic Support Center is good not just for students who “don’t get it” either. Good students with good study habits can come into this system, (get paid obviously) and help other students as well. More importantly, having that information echo through your head every year, it really sticks into your brain. I hardly feel the need to practice basic Calculus, (whatever the number is now…) because of how often I help out underclassmen with the same principles. I am increasingly more comfortable in the topics that I tutor and I owe that to the constant exposure to students asking for help in those topics.
It also is an excellent way for younger students to make connections with older students which is instrumental to one’s success at Stevens. The more time you spend with people who know what they’re doing, the more likely you are to get a sense of direction yourself. And believe me, we need more people at this school with sensible directions in their minds. Too many underclassmen either dream so big that they can’t function correctly, or dream to little to function at all.
That said, I’ve helped many, many people through tutoring at this school, academically and not.
The Academic Support Center here at Stevens is really not that bad. Sure, it has its faults, and some of the administrative work around it could use some touching up (what organization wouldn’t benefit from a little freshener?) but for the most part, it is really helpful. Students who know what they are doing can get paid to help students who don’t really know what they are doing, or rather, help people who “sort of get it,” get it.
So, really, seek them out, even if it is just to reaffirm your understanding. The Academic Support Center is a really great program which deserves a lot more attention than it current receives. There is no shame in academic enlightenment.
