By Nathan Schiller, Director of Academic Support
Welcome back to another fall semester! Or, if you’re new to MCNY, greetings for the first time!
The beginning of any semester is exciting, but it can be nerve-wracking. You can’t wait to get into the classroom, to meet your professors and classmates, to learn new concepts and exchange ideas.
But then the assignments start piling up. They come in waves. How do you manage?
When students think of writing and math tutoring, they usually think about grammar and arithmetic. Tutoring can include those skills, but tutoring—especially with the professional specialists in the LEC—is about so much more.
It’s about improving critical thinking, practicing good study habits and time management, and opening your mind to information and ideas. It’s about developing a relationship with someone who’s invested in your academic success. Invested in your future as a thinker, a professional, a leader.
But don’t take our word for it. Hear what students have said about LEC tutoring:
At first I was afraid to go to the LEC, but then I realized how great the opportunity is to work with the specialists. They went over the step-by-step process of understanding the equations and entering them into a spreadsheet. I am more comfortable solving the equations and working with future accounting and finance problems.
The staff is very professional and was non-judgmental. The specialists allowed me the space to critically think about my writing and provided me with valuable suggestions.
They did not do the math for me. Instead, they made me work hard and think critically about the problem. Now, whenever I encounter a math problem, I stay calm and work through it.
The LEC staff is very flexible with sessions and knowledgeable on APA format. My time at the LEC was well worth it and I look forward to returning.
In a world where the LEC didn’t exist, both student and non-student would suffer such a great loss. At the LEC you are met with not only warmth but also great knowledge that transcends semester after semester and even in life outside of the college. Even in a simple “hello,” all LEC specialists feel like home.
The specialist team in writing has stayed with me day by day, month by month, guiding me to improve my work. Now I consider myself a writer and future mentor for others.
As an international student, writing is sometimes difficult. The LEC helped me to sharpen my ideas, help my understanding, as well as give me further instruction to improve my writing and research skills.
They helped me not only in writing; they challenged me to believe I can accomplish anything once I put my mind to it. They made me think outside the box.
Talking to the specialists has been one of the best parts about coming to the LEC. They helped me feel confident and capable. I don’t know how I would have gotten through this semester without them. They assessed my weaknesses and turned them into strengths. They even inadvertently helped me become better at helping my son with his math homework.
The late, great author Toni Morrison once told her students: “When you get those jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” The LEC embodies this spirit. Their passion and dedication to the students of MCNY and me help to make this journey through college (at whatever age we embark on it) more manageable.
The LEC is my family. I looked forward every week to my sessions because they helped my work. I’ve been visiting the LEC since I started my degree. Once you start going, you see the benefits of it. It’s like good medicine.
