After 38 years of working as a doctor, Larry stopped working 和 used his extra time to serve with 数学队 任期四届. Though he was apprehensive in the beginning, he came to really love serving with the program.
What made you want to join AmeriCorps?
Well, I had just made the transition out of medicine. In medicine, you’re used to pretty much going every waking minute. I was looking for something to do, 和 I saw an ad for 数学队. I called them up 和 it took off from there. My first service site was near where I lived in Roseville at Washington Tech, just down the street.
What were you doing as a 数学队 tutor?
我是这么想的, 数学队 helps a group of students who just need a little boost with math. It helps students who need to have somebody paying attention to them 和 helping them to accomplish their goals. The students fall just below the benchmark goal on proficiency testing 和 数学队 seeks to give them skills to make it over that benchmark.
I had some apprehension that first time I knocked on the classroom door to get students for tutoring. I said to myself, “What am I doing? 事情会怎样发展?”, but the students were just great 和 their willingness to participate carried us on through a great year.
Having been a doctor for 38 years, what helped you adjust to being a tutor?
I was comfortable in a classroom setting 和 being with either one-on-one or in small groups. That’s a major perk of medicine – interaction with people, that one-on-one communication. That’s what keeps you going 和 that’s what you miss when you’re not doing it.
What are some memories you have of 数学队 students?
I remember a pair of students who voiced dismay that they weren’t good in math 和 couldn’t do it. I just blurted out one day that they were my best students, 当然, 他们会说, no, 我们在这方面很糟糕. I kept telling them, you’re doing great, I love to see you coming to tutoring. I kept telling them that, 和 I think it sunk in. They started working 和 focusing 和 even caught my own math mistakes if I made them. I think if you hear something over 和 over, you can change your mindset 和 become a believer in yourself.
I had another student who said he had been having to go to ‘math help’ at the end of the day, 他说, "请帮帮我, I HAVE to get out of math help.” So I took him on in addition to my usual schedule. We went through the whole 数学队 curriculum in three months, 和 he raised his MCA score 19 percentage points in one year!
How can AmeriCorps help people in a healthcare career?
So my question is, “Are you going to be a better physician than a cell phone?”, 我的意思是, you need to hone the skills of communication, 观察, 评估, 和动力. It’s important to get the whole picture, to see a person’s body language, like the little frown that comes up if they don’t quite get it. Your phone 和 laptop screens can’t do that.
这些天, sometimes doctors spend much more time looking at the computer screen than they do looking at their patients. The ability to actively communicate – that’s what 数学队 helps you practice.
What would you say to someone who says they’re worried about doing 数学队 because they’re bad at math?
The first thing people say when I suggest they do 数学队 is, “I’m terrible at math”. I say, great, you’ll fit right in! 数学队 gives you instruction, training, 和 technique. If you’re uncomfortable 和 not quite sure how to proceed, it’s all right there. By the time you’ve done it three or four times, it is second nature.
Anything else you’d share about AmeriCorps?
I did all four years, I thought I would just do one. 你会得到很多支持. If you think, hey, this could work for me, do it. You’ll get benefits, you’ll enjoy it 和 love it, 和 it’s a great thing to put on your resume.
Interested in serving with AmeriCorps? 看看 数学队 和 我们的其他项目. 如果你有问题， reach out to our recruitment team!
