By Ashley Leon
The Learning Assistance Center offers many subjects to tutor people and has been a place I have benefited from in my time here at East Los Angeles College.
Not only are they attentive to student needs, but also give a full hour of one-on-one tutoring.
Most centers offer one subject to focus on with groups to tutor at a time.
Only a half-an-hour of tutoring per session is given, which is not nearly enough time for a student to receive the amount of help needed.
If a student is struggling, the best place to check out before giving up all hope would be the Learning Center.
This center tackles difficult subjects such as engineering, anatomy, physiology and biology.
Students should never feel they have no choice but to give up on a class they do not understand.
Chances are that tutors at the Learning Center can assist those in need of understanding.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Math 227.
Some students tend to automatically assume that math is simply not a subject just anyone can grasp. I was one of them.
Even though that was the case, I figured out that all I had to do was search for assistance.
As soon as I entered the Learning Center, I found all of the support needed to pass the class that once seemed too complicated to understand.
Students can spend what seems like a fortune on tutors, but the most convenient advantage about the Learning Center is that their services are free for students.
Tutors at the Learning Center are trained twice a month by Director Maria Elena Yepes.
They are encouraged to connect to students, which is a method used to better understand student’s learning styles.
This makes the session worthwhile because a tutor can identify and address the issue a student has of comprehending the subject’s material.
Another resourceful way of serving students is by sending a tutor to a class where the professor believes students do not understand the material.
Some classes can have over 25 students in attendance.
Professors cannot always reach every student in each class that they teach by the end of the allotted class period.
The Learning Center is unique for the tutor’s commitment and compassion.
For example, six previous tutors became teachers in the Montebello School District.
Yepes said a few tutors had come back to tell her how much being a tutor at the Learning Center played a prominent factor in their career choice.
The enjoyment of serving students is evident in their work.
These tutors are patient, friendly and always willing to make subjects easier to grasp.
Step-by-step, they guide students not only to complete assignments,
but also to understand the material.
ELAC’s greatest mission is to provide ways for students to become well-educated.
Academic support centers such as the Learning Center are essential services available for all students to use.
With a welcoming staff and advanced technological resources, the Learning Center thrives.
