The Development of Closer to 20/20 Tutoring
I have spent much of my career in education. My growing up years were spent in the Midwest and Texas. I am a heritage speaker of both Spanish and German, meaning that I began learning from family members and/or community members before adolescence. After dropping out of high school, I attended university and studied Languages, Literature, and the Social Sciences and Humanities, graduating (to my surprise) with honors. Then I went to graduate school, and received my M.A. in History in a program for Transatlantic Studies, which required its doctoral students to learn both European and American History. Although I was only an M.A. student, I focused on both.
My first teaching position was at a small private Christian college in Florida, where my time and energy were split between the History Department, where I taught introductory courses in Western Civilization, and the English Department, where I taught Introduction to Humanities, a course cross-listed with History (so that for the purposes of accreditation, I would be qualified to teach it). My chair, who was both demanding and compassionate, expected me to be as knowledgeable as a traditional English professor. So during a time following the decline of English departments, in which numerous American students graduating with degrees in English could not identify basic elements of English grammar, I was expected to to possess expertise in English Language and Composition, and teach with the objective that my students would be knowledgeable in both. While the course I taught emphasized philosophy and the arts in the Greco-Roman and European traditions, it also required a deep understanding of John Milton and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. During that period, I also took private lessons in Ancient Greek, and even taught World History at the local community college. In the years that immediately followed, I worked as a private tutor, not only in History but also in English as a Second Language. It was here that I began to develop the approach I refer to as "Empowering the Mind."
A few years after that, my experience teaching in English enabled me to land my first full-time position in Germany, as director of the English Language Writing Center at the University of Freiburg. I delivered lectures on how to write an essay and helped struggling students learn to write on Shakespeare, Blake, and others in the English tradition. I also taught Expository and Argumentative Writing in English at the city's pedagogical high school, an institution for training primary school teachers. I worked as a private tutor as well as with German Gymnasium (high school-level) students, who were preparing to take the Abitur (the German version of the SAT). The novel they were reading that year was Der Process (The Trial) by Franz Kafka. I tutored those students in German.
The next year, I returned to the U.S. to pursue graduate studies in German Language and Literature, eventually earning my second Masters degree. In 2012 returned to Germany for the summer to work at a preparatory boarding school, where I taught Intermediate and Advanced German to 13-19 year-old students. I served as a guest to their American Studies class, helping them to understand the concept of the American Dream and the novel Of Mice and Men. I also worked tutoring students individually as needed, according to their specific interests.
During the rest of my time in graduate school, however, I began to understand that as an institution, the contemporary university had moved far away from the values that had helped make me the teacher I became. I am still friends with many in academia, but it's just not a career path I would choose. And while I have had some wonderful experiences teaching in Germany, I had little desire to remain there for the next three decades. Doing so would have meant being away from my family and many of my closest friends for long periods of time.
And so I decided to stay in the U.S., and venture into the world of business. I had already started an online bookstore while in graduate school and revised a handbook in the department where I taught. The work that came with both endeavors was enjoyable, so the decision seemed to make sense. I worked in technical writing and while in that position, also worked as a content writer and copywriter, reading every book and article on marketing I could find. Eventually, I worked in international business as well. I had several wonderful mentors and am grateful for the opportunities I've had. But in 2019, I reevaluated that path. The work I found most rewarding had to do with employee training and writing to help small entrepreneurs quickly adopt different processes and grow their businesses. I also appreciated being able to educate consumers, which is the work of content writing. The educator in me had found his place in the world of business. But I missed the classroom and the rewards that come with watching young students going through the process of struggling, persevering, overcoming, and achieving. While I have enjoyed helping new entrepreneurs build their businesses so they could enjoy the kind of lives they never believed would be possible, school teachers just have a unique way of being able to touch the lives of their students.
I decided to take steps that would allow me to return to education. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, closing schools and having nearly everyone other than essential workers stay at home, I saw where there would be a need for good tutors who can work online. I took the name from the online bookstore I no longer operate, Closerto2020Books.
My first teaching position was at a small private Christian college in Florida, where my time and energy were split between the History Department, where I taught introductory courses in Western Civilization, and the English Department, where I taught Introduction to Humanities, a course cross-listed with History (so that for the purposes of accreditation, I would be qualified to teach it). My chair, who was both demanding and compassionate, expected me to be as knowledgeable as a traditional English professor. So during a time following the decline of English departments, in which numerous American students graduating with degrees in English could not identify basic elements of English grammar, I was expected to to possess expertise in English Language and Composition, and teach with the objective that my students would be knowledgeable in both. While the course I taught emphasized philosophy and the arts in the Greco-Roman and European traditions, it also required a deep understanding of John Milton and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. During that period, I also took private lessons in Ancient Greek, and even taught World History at the local community college. In the years that immediately followed, I worked as a private tutor, not only in History but also in English as a Second Language. It was here that I began to develop the approach I refer to as "Empowering the Mind."
A few years after that, my experience teaching in English enabled me to land my first full-time position in Germany, as director of the English Language Writing Center at the University of Freiburg. I delivered lectures on how to write an essay and helped struggling students learn to write on Shakespeare, Blake, and others in the English tradition. I also taught Expository and Argumentative Writing in English at the city's pedagogical high school, an institution for training primary school teachers. I worked as a private tutor as well as with German Gymnasium (high school-level) students, who were preparing to take the Abitur (the German version of the SAT). The novel they were reading that year was Der Process (The Trial) by Franz Kafka. I tutored those students in German.
The next year, I returned to the U.S. to pursue graduate studies in German Language and Literature, eventually earning my second Masters degree. In 2012 returned to Germany for the summer to work at a preparatory boarding school, where I taught Intermediate and Advanced German to 13-19 year-old students. I served as a guest to their American Studies class, helping them to understand the concept of the American Dream and the novel Of Mice and Men. I also worked tutoring students individually as needed, according to their specific interests.
During the rest of my time in graduate school, however, I began to understand that as an institution, the contemporary university had moved far away from the values that had helped make me the teacher I became. I am still friends with many in academia, but it's just not a career path I would choose. And while I have had some wonderful experiences teaching in Germany, I had little desire to remain there for the next three decades. Doing so would have meant being away from my family and many of my closest friends for long periods of time.
And so I decided to stay in the U.S., and venture into the world of business. I had already started an online bookstore while in graduate school and revised a handbook in the department where I taught. The work that came with both endeavors was enjoyable, so the decision seemed to make sense. I worked in technical writing and while in that position, also worked as a content writer and copywriter, reading every book and article on marketing I could find. Eventually, I worked in international business as well. I had several wonderful mentors and am grateful for the opportunities I've had. But in 2019, I reevaluated that path. The work I found most rewarding had to do with employee training and writing to help small entrepreneurs quickly adopt different processes and grow their businesses. I also appreciated being able to educate consumers, which is the work of content writing. The educator in me had found his place in the world of business. But I missed the classroom and the rewards that come with watching young students going through the process of struggling, persevering, overcoming, and achieving. While I have enjoyed helping new entrepreneurs build their businesses so they could enjoy the kind of lives they never believed would be possible, school teachers just have a unique way of being able to touch the lives of their students.
I decided to take steps that would allow me to return to education. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, closing schools and having nearly everyone other than essential workers stay at home, I saw where there would be a need for good tutors who can work online. I took the name from the online bookstore I no longer operate, Closerto2020Books.