What's it Like to Dissect a Human Body? One Wellness Teacher Decided to Find Out

Brain jelly that oozes between your fingers. Leaky breast implants that cause invisible illness. The human body, cadavers, cancer, and medicine, oh my! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Halloween, and we have a spooktacular interview that combines all these creepy subjects with thoughtfulness and insight. Heather P. is the PCH Tutors administrator who also happens to be a third-year student of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and an acupuncture intern at Emperor’s College in Santa Monica. She recently spent a week in Colorado dissecting a dead (human) body for science - and it all started with a breast implant that sent her on a years-long health and wellness journey and the pursuit of a medical degree. 

Did you have to do a dissection as part of your degree in TCM?

No. I did it primarily for my own personal development and primarily to develop my practice as a yoga teacher. But I also thought it would inform my acupuncture practice as well. Really, it was totally for fun. But I’ve had a long personal journey with health and wellness that all started with a breast surgery. 

Really? Plastic surgery led you to Traditional Chinese Medicine?

As a teen I had unevenly sized breasts & I wanted to change that. In 2003, I found a plastic surgeon who recommended I get an implant to augment the smaller breast (rather than what I wanted: reduce the larger). My understanding of my options was limited, & I felt pressured to follow his lead. 

After surgery, & for over a decade following it, I experienced many health issues including chronic sore throats, sinus infections, fatigue, brain fog, pain, numbing, nausea, anxiety, disconnection to my body, sensitive skin & intolerances to foods & the environment.

Were these health problems what sparked an interest in yoga and holistic medicine?

My mom has always been into holistic medicine, and after doctors couldn’t help me with my health issues she introduced me to a lot of alternative methods of healing: yoga, reiki, lymphatic drainage, acupuncture, etc. 

I didn’t exactly know my implant was a trigger for my health issues, but I tried everything else and by 2014 I felt ready to have it removed. I wish I could say this brought peace to what was a traumatic journey for me, but my second surgery came with real challenges, too. While under the knife my surgeon made decisions regarding the shape and size of my breasts that we hadn’t agreed on, including leaving the “capsule” in, which is the scar tissue around the implant, that can continue to cause issues, even after the implant is removed. The results of both surgeries left me feeling an enormous amount of mistrust - in myself and in others. 

When did you start to realize that your implant may have been the culprit behind all your health problems? 

It actually wasn’t until several years after my explant that I totally connected the dots. Lots of women with implants started speaking out more about their symptoms and we realized we all had a handful of the same ones. When removed “en-bloc,” which includes the scar tissue that forms around the implant, a lot of womens’ symptoms start to fade.

I have since learned with research that my body viewed my implant as toxic, resulting in my health issues. My symptoms, amongst others, are now acknowledged by patients & some medical professionals as Breast Implant Illness (BII - not recognized by the FDA). I have also learned that it’s not uncommon to feel unheard & without enough information after surgery.

So you have the implant out now. Have holistic and alternative healing methods truly helped your healing process?

Even though I still have the capsule in, I feel a lot better, though some symptoms persist and I do wish all of the capsule was removed. Today, I continue to heal after having my implant removed. I’m grateful to those who shared their stories & listened to mine, & those who helped me heal through acupuncture, reiki, lymphatic drainage & yoga. I’m very privileged to have been able to take my health into my own hands.

Is your personal experience with breast implants and your passion to share your story what led you to become a practitioner yourself?

Yes. A lot of women say they aren’t even counseled to go flat after mastectomies, it’s just like, “Do you want this implant or that implant or fat transplant?” But implants can cause a rare kind of cancer, called Breast Implant Associated Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). BIA-ALCL is not breast cancer - it is a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (cancer of the immune system). In most cases, BIA-ALCL is found in the scar tissue and fluid near the implant, but in some cases, it can spread throughout the body and many women aren’t truly educated on the risks involved. 

In July 2019, the FDA recalled several implants due to the possibility of BIA-ALCL, including the one I had, but they do not recommend removal, since the cancer seems rare right now, and since they don’t recognize the other symptoms as being connected to implants. 

And TODAY, the FDA announced it’s recommending breast implant manufacturer warnings be added to their products, citing an overwhelming outcry from women who have suffered health problems they say are related to their implants.

WHOA. That is all happening right now!

It’s all insanity.

So a journey with breast plant illness made you curious about health and human bodies, and you decided to go dissect one and learn more about it. 

I got into Reiki, yoga, and acupuncture when I was looking for ways to take care of myself. I felt western doctors couldn’t, and nobody could figure out what was wrong with me. Learning science as well as these modalities have helped me to understand for myself how the body functions and how to heal. Then I felt the best way to get to the bottom of my illness and how the body works was through, literally, the body - which led me to the dissection. 

Oh yes, the bodies! That’s how this whole conversation started, really. Tell us about the cadaver program you chose. 

The training was in Boulder, CO., at the Laboratories of Anatomical Enlightenment. It’s one of only a few private labs run by this amazing guy, Todd Garcia, who is a wealth of knowledge and knows so much about the human body, anatomy and physiology, etc.

Todd hosts dissections for different groups of people at his lab. I did my training through Yoga Medicine. They do 200 and 500 hour yoga teacher trainings and in order to do the dissection I did I had to already be a certified yoga teacher. 

How many cadavers did your group dissect?

Our training group had four cadavers: three female, one male. We had eight people working on each cadaver, so there were about 30 of us in total.

How does one get into the cadavers industry?

The same way anyone gets into any profession, I suppose. Long story short, Todd started assisting some of his teachers in the classroom, they liked him and kept having him back. Eventually he started assisting dissections, became good at it and realized he enjoyed teaching other people. 

Right now he obtains cadavers through a university in Utah. In the program there, the person donating their body to science has to fill out a lot of forms in advance, e.g., a family member can’t do it for you. He says the process is pretty extensive, and he drives out and gets them to bring them back to his lab. He was going to pick up 12 while we were there.

What kind of cadavers are they?

They’re untreated cadavers, meaning they’re not treated with formaldehyde - they’re untouched, basically “as is” after they pass away. He keeps them frozen until he gets a group scheduled to come dissect them. They thaw in about 2-3 days. Each night when we finished for the day we put them in a cooler overnight because they decompose super quickly. Five days is about the longest you can do an untreated dissection.

Are there benefits to dissecting an untreated cadaver as opposed to a treated one?

There are benefits to dissecting both untreated and treated cadavers. The untreated cadaver is more real, and then you don’t have exposure to formaldehyde. But when the bodies are preserved, you have a longer timeframe in which to work. I’ve never done a preserved or treated cadaver but a friend of mine who is in medical school spent a whole year dissecting one body, whereas we had to finish our work within a few days. With preserved bodies you can see all of the muscles more clearly, too. For example, on a treated body the brain is preserved, versus ours that we took out of the skull and within minutes it started to disintegrate into a jelly-like, mushy brain goop. 

Whoa, brain jelly? That’s spooky! 

Yes, an untreated brain will start to slip through your fingers once you remove it. We put ours on the table so we could still see it. 

What did you learn about the brain from dissecting it?

Different parts of the brain are different colors, ranging from more white - which is mostly the myelin, basically the brain’s insulation - to different parts that are pinkish and nude color. In the brain stem you can see the 12 cranial nerves, which is cool because I’ve studied that in school. We also saw the pituitary gland, which is so tiny but is responsible for so much in the body. 

Where and how do you start your dissection?

It was cool to look at a body before I even started and seeing how it lays on the table. We look at whether there is scoliosis, and if the body is the same from one side to the other. We don’t know if they died from a disease or what did they do with their life - we don’t know anything about them. 

We started the dissection with the skin layer and attempted to remove the skin from head to toe in one piece. We didn’t get exactly one piece, but it was pretty successful overall.

Tell us about the skin layers.

Under the top layer of skin you have the adipose layer - I didn’t know you could also take that layer off in one piece, so that was fascinating. And it was fascinating to see the fascia, which is connective tissue, that there are a lot of different layers of fascia but it kind of separates the skin from the adipose yet also goes through the adipose. Fascia wraps around all the muscles individually and all the muscles together, and wraps around veins and arteries and nerves. 

I think the coolest part of doing the dissection layer by layer is really seeing that everything in the body is connected. As a yoga teacher and soon to be acupuncturist that’s something I tell clients a lot: everything is connected. It’s something I believe, but this experience really solidified that idea. 

What was the most challenging part of dissecting a cadaver?

The first day was the hardest for me and I wasn’t sure if I made a mistake signing up for this. There were a lot of hard parts for me at the beginning. I didn’t like cutting through skin.

It’s just too real. That skin is what we have to relate to, our outsides. Internally, of course, you sometimes feel your body going through digestion or ovulation but when it comes to interacting with the world you really just have your own skin, so cutting through the skin of a cadaver was really hard for me. 

Once we got past that I was surprisingly okay in terms of the physical dissection. I’m a pretty squeamish person and never thought I’d do something like this, nor was I interested in science really before the last few years. So it was definitely a challenge and a stretch and put me out of my comfort zone. 

It was also really emotional in a way that’s hard to describe. Just thinking about life and death and what this person went through in their life and how they donated their body to science so others could learn from them. It also made me think a lot about how I feel in my physical body and feel really fortunate that I had the opportunity to do something like this. 

It was also really hard work. 

What did you initially set out to see?

I wanted to see everything. I’ve taught a handful of  200-hour yoga teacher trainings in the past couple years: I taught the anatomy section of the training, so I set out to really learn more about anatomy as it pertains to yoga. Also, there are about 361 meridian acupuncture points and 40 extra points and all these points have point locations that have anatomical terms in them, whether tendon, muscle, bone, joint, and I really wanted to see all of those. I didn’t go through the points and see which one is this and that, but I did my best to try to see all the anatomical landmarks. Looking back, I didn’t get enough time at the ankle or elbow joints which I would have liked, but I got a good look at the knee, hip and shoulder, which are major joints in the body. And I got to see the synovial fluid in the knee joint which is something I always think and teach about but didn’t know exactly what it was like. It was this honey-like fluid in the knee. That was very cool.

One of the things I always say to anyone who will listen to me is “Motion is lotion.” I actually got to see that in action. Obviously it’s a little different in a cadaver than a body that is still living,  but the same thing held true: each layer had a certain amount of movement that increased as we worked with it. For example, we got to lift the leg up and move it around, seeing the flexion and extension at the hip and knee and ankle - still, lotion is motion, and you get more motion as you move the body more.  

I also really wanted to see the lungs because one of the only ways you can injure a person in acupuncture is by puncturing the lung cavity -- pneumothorax. Around the rib cage we don’t needle patients perpendicularly, we go oblique, so it’s going in but not past the ribs so I wanted to see where they’re situated and get to know them better. Without living lungs there’s not as much expansion happening in a cadaver, but someone did bring a straw to the dissection which she stuck into the cadaver’s trachea and blew into it, so we got to watch the lungs expand. It was really awesome.

I also wanted to see where implants go when they’re placed under the muscle, and what the breast tissue is like. 

What are some things you had to learn right away while dissecting a cadaver?

Understanding where you’re navigating and how to go slowly. The scalpel is extremely sharp and if you’re going layer by layer you have to make sure you’re going along fascia lines and not too deep. Past skin and adipose and fascia there are so many layers of muscles beyond that. The idea was to make the dissected cadaver a textbook model, and if you cut too deep you can’t go back. 

Were there any “oh no,” moments where you mis-sliced or messed something up irreversibly?

There was a little bit of that but everyone was supportive of each other - and there are two sides of the body! It was the greatest team building experience. There were eight people and eight scalpels on each cadaver and most of the time we were all working at the same time in different areas on the body. 

Before we went into the lab we did a pre-lab session where everyone got to share their background, why they were there, and share personal projects or things they wanted to see specifically while working. Some people had things going on with their discs or spines so they wanted to see that or people who have clients with arthritis or working with people with heart disease and might want to see a clogged artery. So we were all aware of different projects and what people wanted to see, and nobody wanted to mess up each other’s projects. There were times when people couldn’t precisely do what they wanted but for the most part people were patient and understanding.

What are some things you learned about your cadavers?

They were all probably in their 80s and 90s. It was interesting to see on mine that she had scoliosis from looking outside before starting the dissection and then seeing the difference between bone structures side to side, muscles left to right, how one side had carried the weight, and how her right leg’s range of motion was so different from the left. She had some adhesions on her legs and throughout her body. Also, my cadaver didn’t have eyes and all the other ones did so we think maybe those were donated separately. We don’t know. 

It was cool to see in my cadaver the difference from left to right and how the body is capable of adapting and repairing and healing. Everything was so fascinating. Each section was so surreal. It was so interesting to see you could go layer by layer skin to adipose, and just when I thought that was the coolest thing, it was dissecting the muscles and seeing where they all attach. 

We got to cut and take off the sternum and ribs in order to take out and look at the lungs and the heart. We also took out the spleen, stomach, intestines, gallbladders, kidneys and liver in one piece. That was really cool. It was a lot of work to take them out; someone had to hold them up while the other person cut them out. I didn’t realize that one kidney is usually significantly larger than the other.

Seeing the sciatic nerve was really cool too. The nerve originates at the lumbar spine, runs through the piriformis under the  glutes, then down your leg and bifurcates behind the knee into two (tibial and peroneal nerves). Todd taught us that a lot of people think they have sciatica but it’s usually the cluneal nerve which runs over the back of the pelvis.

Another cadaver had screws in her femur and a mass by her heart with clogged arteries that we’re not sure if that affected how she passed away, we can only guess. 

Did the team react or interact with each other when you were uncovering these cool things?

We would all just look at each other like “OMG are you seeing this!?”

During the lab, it was encouraged to not just get sucked into your own body part interests but to also walk around your cadaver and see what was going on with it and look at the other cadavers. So we would point things out to each other. A lot of times we were just speechless, I’m doing my best but there really aren’t words to describe this experience. 

How do you think the experience impacted your views on life and the human body?

It made life seem precious, even just in terms of what our bodies are capable of. Society makes people behave really hard on their bodies but they’re tremendous and capable of a lot. 

It made me feel that movement and holistic medicine and care are really important, and that it’s important to treat the body as a whole and not just little bits and pieces. I feel like sometimes alternative medicine can feel like an uphill battle with the way our insurance and medical system works, but it made me want to keep fighting for it and make it accessible to as many people as I can.

I just started my third year at Emperor’s College and I’m seeing my own acupuncture patients in the clinic. The cadaver dissection experience definitely made me feel more comfortable working with all different kinds of bodies and reading the body. Even though a lot of Chinese medicine is based on blood and qi - energy - and that’s not a hundred percent in a cadaver, I still felt connected to the energy of the people who donated their bodies to science.

Why do you think you felt that connection with a technically lifeless form?

I feel like it’s because a body can tell a story. Going through the layers of it, I felt like we were being told a story about the person’s life which connected me to their energy.

There’s so much we as practitioners have to pick up on that our patients aren’t always saying with words, or they themselves don’t know. Being able to just look at the body and make connections on what was going on in the body based on what I saw is what we partly do in Chinese medicine too, we ask a lot of questions, but also do a lot of observing - looking at tongue, pulse, hair or nails, how they carry themselves, how their eyes look, etc. - which is not exactly parallel to a cadaver but the experience of observation is similar in a cadaver. 

Did anything gross you out?

The smells were very strong and I’m glad I didn’t have to smell formaldehyde but there were a lot of smells coming from the breakdown of the tissues. We clamped the stomach and the large intestine so if there was gas or fecal matter it didn’t come out when we cut those organs out but there were still smells.

I would put dabs of Vicks in my nostrils and a mask over that. But once you’re in the room, you start to get a little desensitized to the smell.

I’m sure that people doing all kinds of dissections have a spiritual experience but since my group was all yoga teachers it felt even more mindful and intentional than an average dissection might seem. Having our teachers be more on the spiritual side made it a more mindful experience as well. 

How long did the full dissection take?

We did a half day the first day, then three full days of about 9-5 work, then a half day the final day.

Did dissecting a body change your mind about anything?

I never thought about it before this but it made me want to donate my body to science. I always thought that being preserved and buried in a coffin was bizarre and bad for the environment. There are mushroom suits and ways to plant yourself to grow into a tree and I always wanted to do that. But I think that you can learn so much from a dissection and someone gave their body to me, so it would be cool to be able to give my body back. 

A big takeaway for me is that we still have so much to learn. There is still so much about the human body that we don’t know. Even just 10 or so years ago people didn’t even know that much about fascia and, as Todd would always say, “The world was flat until it was round.” And it’s true. Even though to me it felt like he knew everything, he was also able to say he didn’t know if he didn’t know why something when we asked him. In addition to learning about physical dissection I think he inspired me to be able to say, “I don’t know” when I’m teaching, and have that be okay. Because I don’t know everything. 

What surprised you the most?

There were a few people who’d done the cadaver dissection training before, with the same company. When I found that out before we got started I was like, why are they doing this again?! But I think the thing that surprised me the most was that I now feel like I could and want to do it again one day.

If you were to do it again, what would you do differently?

The first time you do it, there’s so much to navigate and learn that you don’t know, you can’t keep track of all the things you want to see. I think I’m definitely satisfied with the experience and saw and learned so much but I still feel there’s so much to learn and see. So I think that if I could do it again I’d pay more attention to the dissection manual and make sure I see all the things I want to see. If I were to do it again I would know more of what to expect and could be more thorough.

Did you enjoy the experience?

Yes. There were times when I wanted it to be over ASAP and times I never wanted it to be over. Todd said something poignant: “Never wait until something is over to enjoy it.” That helped me be present in the lab itself and is a great mantra to have in your life when you’re doing anything. He also said, “Discipline is a gift that comes from truly being present,” which I think also made me be more present and grateful for the experience and made me appreciate my discipline. 

One of the coolest things about the whole experience and being surrounded by this group was that everyone was committed to learn as much as they could. I’ve done trainings and schooling where it hasn’t seemed like all the people attending were that committed. So it was unique in that sense. 

What’s your biggest takeaway from both this human dissection and your own health experiences?

That our body systems are truly amazing and capable of so much. Through my own experiences - taking agency of my body, learning how I feel and respond to different things, and learning how to better care for it - and also through exploring the body of someone who donated theirs to science, I’ve learned that the human body is truly incredible and capable of so much. I’ve realized how negative body shame can be, and think more and more about how much we should love and care for our own bodies in the shapes an sizes they are. Always listen to your own body and respond to what it’s telling you! 

Editor’s Note: To experience TCM for yourself, you can book an acupuncture appointment at the Emperor’s College and have your own taste of the QI. Heather is also a Reiki practitioner and yoga instructor. You can contact her on her website, and learn more about some of the wellness disciplines she maintains. Her door is open to anyone who has concerns about their health, their implants, or has explanted, or who can relate. Reach out if you want to talk, want more information, or if you’re interested in a reiki session to address your healing needs. 

Meet The Team: Imani W.

Imani W. was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. She wanted a significant change during her college years and sought “A completely different environment surrounded by new sights, smells, tastes.” She’s not quite sure how she ended up at Pepperdine, but it turned out to be the exact contrast she was looking for and she’s pretty glad she came.

““Every time a student says, ‘Oh that’s it, that’s so simple!’ is a memorable moment for me.” - Imani W. ”

What are you studying and how did you choose your major?

I am studying computer science and mathematics. I chose these because I have always been curious about the world that we live in and what governs it, if anything. I have always been a wanderer, explorer, and dreamer - as we all are - and wanted to study the laws of nature that are encoded in mathematical symbols. My life and appreciation for nature and its beauty is what lead me to mathematics. Computer science seemed like a modern and practical application for these studies so I chose to major in that. I was also motivated by the technological progress of the world and the amazing ability for computation to make remote learning a possibility. 

Spending time in Kenya, one gains understanding of the potentially life-changing outcomes that can come from providing access to quality education for those who would not otherwise have the chance to evolve their lives due to the limitations imposed upon them. Computer science - and technology in general, I thought - were good mediums to provide mass relief to such people.

What do you plan to do once you graduate? 

I don’t know yet!

How and why did you start tutoring?

I have a younger sister who really does not like math and I would help her with her math homework, always trying to make it a fun experience. This was my first tutoring experience. I then started informally tutoring my friends and classmates. I would help them with homework and teach them before tests, mostly in computer science. I started tutoring with PCH Tutors because it is a great opportunity for me to test my knowledge on a subject. To paraphrase Einstein, true intelligence is the ability to make something complex seem simple. Ultimately, any subject matter, no matter how complex it may appear, can be reduced to a simpler form. Thus, all the most complex forms of mathematics rely on the most simple principles and providing students this ability to see something complex in a simpler form is why I started tutoring.

What’s your favorite part about tutoring?

My favorite part about tutoring is connecting with the student. We are all so unique and have so much to offer the world and each other. I really enjoy interacting with students and finding the specific learning style that suits them. I am also a student and understand the stresses of being in school and really enjoy being able to provide students with the ability to adjust their perception about school and their engagement with subject matter that they may not particularly enjoy while learning how to alleviate the anxiety that comes from not performing as well as you wanted to. I find that a lot of students believe that they are inherently bad at a subject and it is amazing to see them start to become confident in their work and capabilities.

Do you have any success stories or memorable moments from tutoring?

Every time a student says, “Oh that’s it, that’s so simple!” is a memorable moment for me.

What is something you’ve learned about yourself through tutoring?

I’ve learned that I really enjoy teaching! I would never have thought that prior to tutoring but I really like making the learning process as fun as possible. 

What is the biggest advice or a favorite mantra you share with your students?

School is a place to learn: enjoy the process of learning first without attaching yourself to a particular letter grade. 

What else do you do for fun? 

Hiking, photography, and sunbathing. 

Have you read any good books lately?

I recently read a book called Second Life which was about virtual reality and its ability to give individuals who are confined to bedrest due to illness the opportunity to explore the world and interact with others virtually. I enjoyed the book as I believe in the advancement of the human species in a holistic manner; it is vital for us all to employ humanitarian efforts in all our endeavors and this was a beautiful illustration. 

Meet The Team: Veronica L.

Veronica L. is a 20-year-old senior from the Bay area studying communication with an emphasis on rhetoric in leadership at Pepperdine University. She will graduate this spring and plans to set off on an adventure around the world next September. Veronica has a passion for helping students and advocating for education and healthcare, and has gleaned a lot of wisdom and insight during her time as a tutor. 

““When life gets crazy and I think about how I have to ‘get back on track’ I tell myself, ‘You silly girl, there is no track!’ Life is all about riding from one weird thing to the next weird thing.” ”

How did you decide to attend Pepperdine?

I was planning to major in biology and trying to decide between several schools including the University of Washington. I took a trip there to meet the professors with whom I’d be doing research in the biology department. One of them wisely advised me that if there was any chance I would switch my major, I should reconsider attending. They have a strict program that’s hard to get out of, and he told me that unless I wanted to do that 100% of my life, I should go to a school that would be more accommodating about switching. Although I was passionate about science and thought I wanted to do it, at 17 years old I didn’t have the level of confidence to commit the next 40 years to this small and specific program. I ended up choosing Pepperdine and I couldn’t be happier. 

What are you studying, and why?

I started as a biology major but freshman year I felt really drawn to medicine as a profession. I really loved science and math but something felt off, and I was trying to unpack why. I realized what really drew me to choosing biology was doctors advocating on behalf of patients - the connection element of science and communication and advocacy. After thinking about it I switched to communications, specifically the rhetoric in leadership track. I spend lots of class time doing public speaking and communication theory. I’m also a gender studies minor. I love studying people on the margins of society and learning how to help them communicate with the people in the center, breaking down barriers. 

What do you plan to do when you graduate? 

I’ve been saving since I was 13 to take a year of travel. I don’t want to rush to jump into grad school or a full-on career, so I decided to pull out the savings and do the trip next year, for a full September - September. When I come back, I’m really interested in going into some sort of advocacy or policy-centered nonprofit. I want to look at health and how the healthcare system operates, so political advising also seems interesting, focusing on gender equity, education, and health. I know what I’m good at and passionate about, which feels more freeing than stressful. 

What are your travel plans for next year?

I’m planning on starting somewhere in southeastern Europe, possibly Turkey. I’m going with a best friend whom I studied with in Argentina, so we plan to spend three months in Spain to revive the Spanish we’ve lost. My parents will be in northern Europe for my dad’s sabbatical as well: Norway, Sweden, Finland, etc., so I’ll spend time with them up there. 

How did you get started tutoring? 

I started tutoring informally while in high school. I was nannying for a family and as the kids aged into more intense homework loads, I started helping them. For a time I really thought I wanted to be a teacher: it’s a field I really respect, and both my parents work in the education system. I tutored at a nonprofit in high school, working with a girl who has learning disabilities. I got so much joy just seeing how she learns so differently. Teaching her required breaking out of classroom boundaries and I got excited about figuring out how if she’s not learning math this way, how can we incorporate art or color or movement to the lesson; bits of problem-solving sparked creativity for both me and my student. For some, tutoring is the only opportunity kids have to learn in different ways.

When I got to college, a couple friends recommended tutoring as a way of structuring my time around crazy class schedules. I love the agency PCH gives me. I had so much fun tutoring in high school, and I think it keeps me a little bit smarter to have to teach people things constantly. Friends are shocked and awed when I can remember how to find the volume of a pyramid - well, it’s because I just had to teach someone yesterday! It also keeps me up on my grammar and structure of writing. I’ve seen how tutoring keeps me sharp to things I wouldn’t remember or view as important if I wasn’t still looking at them during tutoring. 

What do you like about tutoring?

First, seeing how much of a privilege tutoring is and thinking about how many students don’t have access to it. I love how it makes me think about ways that schools and teachers or families can benefit from having tutors. Tutoring should be something everyone is able to get, but students who have access create a disparity. So I think it’s inspired me to advocate on behalf of individualized, personalized learning in our education system.

Second, it’s helped me realize how uniform our education system is in terms of how it teaches in ways that might totally gloss over how a student absorbs information. While tutoring one student I’m usually challenged to think of how I can reframe it if a student isn’t understanding. For example, if their focus is better in the living room than in the kitchen I can say, let’s just move. How is learning so personal, yet we’ve created this system where it’s so uniform? I’ve been reflecting on how that affects the way a student can feel about their homework, school, teachers, peers, and even tutoring itself. I recognize the importance of standards but not the ways of getting students to meet them. We all learn and take in information so differently. The beauty of tutoring is that it pulls the student out of that mold and helps you not only learn but also how to learn.

What have you learned from tutoring?

Tutoring is not a way of explaining but reframing how to learn, how to explain the knowledge. I think the biggest thing I’ve noticed that when a student senses I’m handing the agency of learning over to them they are more inclined to vocalize what works for them. Instead of saying “not this,” you can pause, identify that’s something’s wrong, and encourage the student to explore the right way to solve a problem. If you do it for them it decentivizes feeling the value of what they’re doing. I’m all about giving agency to the student over what they’re doing, making them feel comfortable. Ultimately, I’m not here for parents, teachers, or schools: I’m here for students and I’m a tool for them. They should feel they can use me rather than feeling I’m just here to teach them. 

Do you have any tutoring success stories?

I have a student who is a professional equestrian. She’s an amazing girl and student, and she’s so passionate about what she does. Last year her career took off so I started working with her in late spring where I quickly discovered she was nearly a semester behind. She had to have everything done by June. I admit, it seemed daunting to have three months of work to cram into a few weeks.

When I started working with her I could not imagine what she was going through: this student was doing homework for nine hours a day, taking two tests a day for two weeks, and just plowing through it. She didn’t want to do school but understood that school is necessary. So we sat and rationalized: school is not her priority, but how can we get through it and how will it help her succeed in her actual passion? I reminded her that this might be so hard, and you’re tired now, but look at the success you’re getting both in school and then also the actual joy in life, horses. The sacrifices you’re making to do both will be so valuable down the line. 

It’s been cool to validate her reasoning for doing online school while also competing and all the resulting moments of stress. For her, school was a hurdle but it propelled her to be more competitive in what she wanted to do. It was awesome to look at her in this holistic way, not as someone who was lazy and got behind in school but as someone who is incredibly talented in something most of us couldn’t do. The grit and perseverance with which she approached the homework as a means to then pursue her passion… more power to you.

We’ve grown up with this linear way of understanding high school and education: this is the way and timeline and etc. School doesn’t have to look like it does for everyone else. Students should feel like school can work for them even if it’s not in the traditional sense. 

Anyway, she got caught up, and this year we’re focusing on not getting three months behind while she competes. I gotta admit I was more than a little impressed we did it. 

What’s a mantra you often impart to your students?

Resilience. When you get caught in a tough class or life circumstance or when you have no idea what’s going on - be resilient. Resilience isn’t something others possess and you don’t: we all have it, it can apply to academics and personal life alike. That mantra for me is believing in myself as someone who is resilient and imparting that: you’re inherently capable of getting over hurdles. Even if you slide through or go around it, find a way past it that works for you doesn’t mean you’re less capable. Resilience is there, just find a way to tap into it that works for you. 

If you have any free time, what do you do with it?

Thankfully I do have free time. I dance - I take weekly classes at a ballet school in Santa Monica. I used to dance professionally at the San Francisco Ballet in middle and high school, so classes are a way of carrying on that passion. I’m in a sorority and love all things social. Friends are a number one priority. I also work at Lululemon, which allows me the time to spend in the outdoors and working out. 

Have you read any good books lately? 

I force myself to read 30 minutes every night to shut down my head, otherwise I think I would lose my mind. I’m a massive massive nerd and WWII history buff so I’m currently working through the third part of The Last Lion, the huge biography on Winston Churchill. It’s an amazing 850-pg. book - I’m on pg. 530. My less nerdy answer is Little Bee, I recommend it to everyone who is interested in relevant novels. It’s about a young refugee in the UK. 

Any last words of wisdom you’d like us to take away from this conversation?

Your path is not linear - it never will be. Don’t expect it to be or every life expectation will fail. As soon as you expect something to be linear, the world will remind you it’s not. Assume it’s not going to be traditional and conventional and I think you’re set up more for success.

Meet The Team: Tiffany C.

Tiffany C. is a Pepperdine University senior studying computer science and math. Originally from Sacramento, she thinks that Saoirse Ronan movie Lady Bird is pretty relatable (though she can tell which parts were not shot on location in her hometown) and says tutoring has actually made her less of an introvert. 

How’d you choose to major in computer science and math?

I was originally undecided when I applied and honestly, I don’t know what the turning point was. I started off with computer science then added math later. While thinking through all my options that summer beforehand, computer science was what interested me the most, so when I got an email right when school was about to start freshman year asking if I was still undecided, I decided to give computer science a shot. I hadn’t had any experience with it before, but once I got to school and started taking classes and meeting different people within the major, I grew to enjoy it. Adding the math major was more of a natural flow: I have always enjoyed math, and thought it made sense. Now I actually want to become a math professor one day.

Is that what you want to do short-term, too? Teach math?

After I graduate next spring I still have to take two general electives. I’m taking a world civics class and a religion class through the Pepperdine Summer Abroad office in Lausanne, Switzerland. I’m also hoping to see as many countries as I can during that time: it’s much easier to travel to other European countries when you’re already in Europe!

Short term, I’m also preparing for grad school, probably in math. I’m studying for the GRE, but immediately post grad school, I’m not sure exactly what I want to do or where I want to study. I’m considering heading to the Bay area: LA has been great but I actually am not sure I’m as much of a big-city girl as I thought.

Do you have any favorite math subtopics or problems?

The math elective that I found the most interesting is combinatorics; simply, a friend and I joked it was about learning how to count. It’s about learning different permutations and calculations, ways to count items, and listings of them. It’s actually really fun.

How did you get started tutoring?

I finally got a car during my junior year, which allowed me to be more mobile. And I knew if I was going to get a job, I wanted it to be related to something I was doing in school. Tutoring felt like the most natural thing to do. 

What’s your tutoring philosophy?

Everyone comes from different math backgrounds. I’ve had students who’ve actually enjoyed math, but obviously others don’t share that same sentiment; it’s just something they have to do to get through school. It can be difficult to adapt to different learning styles and knowledge backgrounds but I do understand the sentiment of not enjoying math. Even as a math major, sometimes I don’t enjoy certain classes. It can get really hard and frustrating, so I understand where that feeling comes from. If that happens with a student, I relate to my own experience. Ultimately seeing people with different math backgrounds and interests still coming to the same conclusion of a problem because, well, it’s math, is satisfying.

How did you develop your own tutoring style?

I didn’t have tutors in particular myself, but going to my professors’ office hours and seeing how they help me when I don’t understand particular topics has been helpful. 

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome as a tutor?

When a student is not particularly interested in the subject, getting them to solve the answer without me feeding it to them can be challenging, especially since I mostly tutor math. If a student isn’t interested, they often don’t want to try, and it can be hard to get them to think about the question. I have to be careful not to solve the problems for them. I found that me as a tutor I have to be very patient. If I’m not patient, it’s easy to be like, “This is the answer, this is how, let’s move on.” But that’s not the point of tutoring. 

What’s your best advice for students you tutor?

That it’s okay to be stuck on a problem. Being stuck doesn’t say anything about how smart you are or anything else. This is something I adopted from my professors here: a lot of the learning process does come through struggling with the question. I encourage my students with the idea that the process is where the learning comes from. Then, when you do have that breakthrough, it will stick better than if someone just told you the answer.

What have you learned about yourself through tutoring?

I consider myself a very introverted person, so part of me was a little worried about being a tutor, especially knowing I’d sometimes get called for a last-minute session with a student who is not one of my regulars. I was worried about how I would be in that situation - if I would be awkward, etc. But it turns out, I realized, I’m not just showing up of my own accord. I’m going as a tutor for a specific purpose and knowing that helps me in being able to open up to the student. It also feels more natural in a way to discuss math as a common ground to start discussion that way and from there, slowly make small talk in between questions. It’s been really helpful to have that in terms of opening up conversation and getting to know students. 

As a double-major and PCH tutor, do you have any free time?

My free time is limited, but when I do have spare time I enjoy playing guitar. I also enjoy watching movies. My favorite is Memento - it’s one of those movies where, when you get to the ending, it just makes you want to watch it again. In Memento there’s a big reveal and it kind of leaves you with this “wow” factor that makes you want to go back and figure out why that ending makes sense. 

Meet The Team: Derek N.

Derek N. never sleeps - but with good reason. He grew up in Newport Beach and went to Corona Del Mar High, then studied pre-med and English with an emphasis in film at UCLA. While he’s graduated now and focused on directing and producing everything from short films to commercials to branded content, he says tutoring keeps him sharp enough that med school could still end up on the table. Keep Derek on your radar: you will likely see his name again some day on the big screen… or on your hospital papers!

Your brief life synopsis begs a ton of questions. How did you manage to graduate from UCLA in four years with both a pre-med and an English/Film degree?

The way I looked at it was, back in high school I took five APs each year along with playing state-level competition piano and varsity tennis. I honestly didn’t have any time at all when I was in high school. But the second I got to college I was like, “Oh wow I have endless amounts of time in comparison.” Compared to high school, I now had three classes maybe twice a week - what was I gonna do with all that leftover time? 

I’ve always loved film. My family jokes that they learned English from the movies. Both my mom and my dad come from families with lots of kids and my grandparents would take them to the movies to get them to shut up, disguised as family bonding time. My parents continued the tradition: as a kid, we saw at least two movies a week in theaters. So I started spending my spare time as a pre-med major in college trying to make films, and figured studying English would be a great way to bridge the gap. The center of any career is being able to communicate with others, whether writing or speaking, so improving my storytelling and writing and communication in all different facets was important whether I was going to be a doctor or a filmmaker. It was an exciting and mutli-faceted education, to say the least. 

Do you have a favorite movie?

It’s hard to name a favorite movie; they all have different stuff that makes each one amazing. One of my favorites, a guilty pleasure, perhaps, is 500 Days of Summer. It’s the perfect subversion of the rom com genre: the filmmakers know exactly how to use conventions to subvert audience expectations. Plus it has great acting. I also love films from Martin Scorsese, like Goodfellas, and sci-fi movies like Blade Runner 2049. But I also enjoy wacky comedies like Zoolander. 

Why are you focusing on films right now instead of medicine?

I did all my pre-med classes but even before I graduated I was getting hired to do work for commercial companies and musicians so I decided to give film a fair shot first once I finished school. It’s exciting and a grind - especially since I still tutor for PCH Tutors as well - but that’s freelancer life. On my projects I typically direct and produce, often overseeing a crew of about 10-15 people. I’m involved with everything from storyboarding and conception through the edit and finished product. You can sleep when you’re dead!

How do you juggle an intensive freelance filmmaking hustle with tutoring, especially subjects that have little to do with filmmaking, like high-level science and math?

My film hustle is still in the early stages as I get to know more people and gain more experience, so I still need to support myself in other ways. I love tutoring and teaching in general. I have three younger siblings and growing up I used to teach them all the time, essentially tutoring them in piano, school, tennis, etc. I always found it fulfilling to know that with whomever I’m teaching or tutoring, it’s making a big difference. I love being able to communicate with people - I’m a big people person, I love talking to people and get to know them; it’s a huge part of my filmmaking job as well. Tutoring keeps my brain sharp, too. Every student is different so you have to adapt to every person.

What are some of your favorite aspects of tutoring?

Once I ended up tutoring a student who was pre-med and worked at a hospital. I happened to know the doctors and people they’d talk about when we’d chat in between actual tutoring. The student live near where I grew up so it was a cool to experience teaching someone so close to home. It was encouraging to talk to someone who was heavily studying pre-med and remind myself that I also know this stuff; I can actually have a deeper conversation about these different biological functions and whatnot. Plus I was able to talk about specific places and food all the time, give suggestions for dates, things like that. 

Working with all kinds of people from kids with learning disabilities or others who honestly may just not want to cooperate has also been a good experience. To break ground with a student who seems resistent and become their friend just by opening up a conversation and straight-up talking… it’s not just the bond of a teacher and pupil but as a mentor/tutor, it’s as close as a friend and equal as possible. When a feels invested in using my time as well, they open up. Slowly picking away at those barriers - whether it’s educational or social or behavioral or something else entirely - and finally getting close to them to the point that they are comfortable telling me gossip of their lives or their realest hopes and dreams: Sometimes they come from such different walks of life than I do and it’s funny to swap perspectives on things. I love having comical back-and-forths with my students and I find it so fascinating. Maybe one day I’ll base a short on some of my students.

The interpersonal connections and being able to share stories with each other. I have very interpersonal relationships with my students - I feel very invested in my students, so even though my hope is eventually that I will go full-time into film, there are students I’ve known so long and we feel so invested in each other, I want to keep hearing what happens to them. I want to be involved in their stories. Even if I didn’t need to tutor at all, I’d like to make time to keep tutoring students I’ve had for a long time, partly just because we’ve made a bond. We have transcended straight-up teaching, that’s the great thing about being a one-on-one tutor and PCH Tutors really encourages that.

It’s also been very cool seeing the system PCH has set up with Simplifi EDU, seeing what’s possible for online tutoring.

What are some of your filmmaking goals?

Film is definitely the end goal for me. I’m saving funds now to make my first larger budget short by the end of the year and hopefully hit the festival circuit with that. I literally meet and have one-on-one interactions multiple times a day, whether it’s musicians or clients or tutors. I make tons of cold calls every day. Meeting and engaging with people and hearing stories from them helps me think and helps form better stories to tell. 

With your pre-med degree, is medical school still on the table?

Med school is still a back burner option - thanks to tutoring I’ve kept sharp on all my biology and chemistry skills all the time! I haven’t forgotten anything and honestly thanks to PCH Tutors I’m not scared of taking the MCAT.

You tutor online a lot. What do you like about your SimplifiEdu experience?

I’ve always loved working for PCH Tutors - in terms of a tutoring agency you can’t really ask for much better in terms of matching tutors/students and customization. I hope to continue working with my students even if I don’t need a second job because I feel fully invested in them. 

Online tutoring in the digital age and in my freelance life is awesome - it’s a really interesting path PCH Tutors is on. Simplifi EDU is essentially a virtual whiteboard, and you can import PDFs and all that. Simplifi EDU already has all the SAT books in PDF form just for that platform so it’s great having the online tutoring agency supply not just the tutor for the student but also the material and medium. Usually I have to ask the student for worksheets or whatever and this time we are prepared for everything in advance - everything at our fingertips to make sure the tutor and the student have the right gear and equipment to optimize that system. When students use Simplifi EDU they’re not just paying for a tutor, but for the system and study optimization as well. 

I actually do quite a lot of online tutoring outside of PCH Tutors as well and nobody has as thorough of a system to make sure a client is as happy as they can be. 

What’s a mantra you live by and like to share with your students?

Keep busy and make good use of your time because you’re not going to get that time back. It feels like I kept super busy in high school but I still look back and think, “Oh, I wish I had done more.” You will never look back and say you wish you didn’t take a risk or opportunity. 

Check out Derek’s work.

Meet The Team: Jacob N.

Jacob N. is as local as they come. After growing up in Malibu and graduating from Malibu High, he went to UCLA and studied psychobiology, graduating in 2019. Now, he’s working as an assistant in a treatment clinic while preparing for medical school and, of course, bringing his math/science skills and mentoring insight to the students at PCH Tutors. He’s passionate about promoting mental health and fascinated by the connection between the brain and human behavior. 

How did you discover you had a knack for tutoring and mentorship?

I started tutoring a family friend in algebra during my senior year of high school, and I ended up really loving it. Even before that, I was teaching my sister calculus. Learning calculus for me was cool but I couldn’t do much with it besides show off so I started helping my sister with her calculus homework. I liked taking basic concepts and being able to think through how I learned them - breaking down high levels of math and communicating it. 

During my freshman year at UCLA, I joined a tutoring organization helping students on campus, then CalTeach gave me the opportunity to lead a classroom of second graders. I taught a physics and biology class, which was a great opportunity to focus not just on the one-on-one setting but also in the classroom. I also wanted to develop more public speaking skills, so it helped with that.

What was it like teaching physics to second graders?!

It was all about making it real-world. We studied how friction works, and it was a completely hands-on class. The lab was based on the activity of getting a brick over cylinders. First we tried to drag the brick across the floor, then we put trundles down and tried it. Afterwards, we discussed which was easier and I tied it to the real world: this is how the Egyptians probably built the pyramids: physics is how humans could possibly drag huge bricks across the sand.

Did the experience spark your interest in teaching and tutoring?

It did. I’d like to become a psychiatrist, but spend my career in more academic medicine, like being a professor at a medical school teaching residents or other students.

When I was at UCLA I became involved in health clubs on campus and I was interested in shaping pre-med culture to be more collaborative. I rose to leadership positions and mentored other pre-med students. We held interview workshops, resume building days, etc. Being able to reach out to fellow undergrads who are also interested in the medical field and teach them what they need to know if they’re interested in med school - and the mentorship aspect - really peaked my interest. 

Why are you passionate about tutoring and mentorship?

I’m really passionate about using my own failures to help others. For example, I didn’t do super well on the SAT the first time I took it, partially because I was so anxious. Then I retook it and landed around the 98th percentile. It’s okay to fail, because you can find out what worked and didn’t work. 

How has working with PCH Tutors impacted you?

I started with PCH in March of 2019. Once I graduated I was reflecting, “What did I do in college that I really loved?” The first thing I thought of was tutoring students and mentoring others. PCH Tutors really emphasized the dialectic teaching method, conversational learning, and student-teacher relationships as a way to help kids get through tough academic challenges. 

What is your favorite part of working with PCH Tutors?

I enjoy reaching students who maybe don’t learn in super traditional ways. For example, teaching students who aren’t interested in math or who don’t have that intuitive interest and don’t see the point of it. Once, a student and I were learning about cycles and sine waves. You don’t think of that as inherently interesting, but think of it as the way stock markets work: rises and runs. The function right now doesn’t mean much to you, but in the future if you study finance, or even want to build a savings and invest, you might use that. 

Have you benefited from having mentors or tutors?

I’ve definitely had my own great tutors along the way. From my own mentors I’ve learned that practice is incredibly important. It’s not so much showing a student how it’s done but asking them how would they do that. My tutors had me do it on my own, then corrected me or showed me the right way. That influenced my method, which is asking students what they think is the answer and why. After they think it through and try to answer it, build off where they already are. 

What’s your tutoring strategy?

My go-to strategy is to make it interesting. You can usually find maybe one smaller concept that a student will show an interest in and tie more of the material into that. One of my students had difficulty with classifying numbers - real, irrational, imaginary, etc. So what is a rational number? I gave him an example: anything you can quantify, like 16 oz of water, is a rational number. Making things concrete for students and using real-world examples is helpful, as is tapping into students’ intuitive understanding of math by asking them what they already know, then expanding it.

What else do you like to do in your free time? 

I’m passionate about personal fitness - I believe fitness keeps you firm mentally; I work out every day. I love playing basketball and love to skateboard. 

I’m also passionate about promoting mental well-being. I always encourage students to be honest about their own needs and with themselves and I advocate for what they need.

Have you read anything lately you recommend?

I love nonfiction - things like Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, which is how being an expert is all about practice and not as much about being a professional. Practicing a lot is what makes someone professional.

Meet The Team: Barbara D.

Barbara D. is a French tutor and film buff getting ready to finish her degree in communications at UCLA this spring. Growing up in Brussels, Belgium, the multilingual globetrotter learned how to speak English from watching I Love Lucy, and gave us this interview by phone while on a spring break holiday in Ireland. As a tutor, she believes in the power of positive reinforcement and encouraging students to try - no matter how daunting a problem seems.

How long did you live in Belgium?

I was born in Brussels and grew up there until I was 18.

What was growing up in Brussels like?

Growing up in Brussels was great - it’s a really small city so it’s very easy to get around. I was really independent as a kid and I had really good friends. My best friend lived on the same street as my mom and I had a good friend who lived on the same street as my dad. I went to the same school from 5-18 years old so we all had the same friends and just stayed really, really close friends. I go back every summer - my mom still lives there - and my friends and I always take a trip together. In fact, I’m going to Brussels tomorrow as a surprise to go say hi, so that should be fun.

I was a really happy kid. The weather sucks in Belgium - but the level of education is really good, public transportation is really good, the living is a high standard. Eventually I might go back, but first I might try to live somewhere close but different - Amsterdam, maybe, which is a 2-hour train from Brussels. Amsterdam is a beautiful city. In Belgium, we speak French and Dutch. My first language was French but I speak some Dutch and I don’t get the chance to speak it often so I’d be really down to go. The city is adorable, all the bikes, and the countryside is perfect, so cute. Plus, Amsterdam has a lot of HQs for media so it might be a good place to go.

When did you leave Belgium?

When I graduated high school I wanted to learn how to speak English - I could speak okay, but didn’t read or write it. My dad is French and my mom is from the US so we spoke a little English at home, but I learned most of my English from old movies and shows like I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show. I decided to study abroad for about six months in Nova Scotia, Canada. I went to school there, traveled, then returned home and was thinking: “I don’t want to go home right now - there’s so much to do and see!” I definitely had a travel bug. I wanted to study film and wanted to be somewhere where it was sunny because I had been in Canada for half a year and the winter was so brutal. So I decided to move to LA and started studying film at SMC. While I was there I switched to communications, thinking I preferred journalism and media. I transferred to UCLA to finish and I’m graduating in June. I will probably be staying around the area for a while - I have a few internships on the way and I’m waiting for that transition - but that’s the big question, what are you doing after graduation. It’s been a great journey.

Why did you switch majors?

I was in classes where people were insanely knowledgeable about film, people could tell you who won best actress in ‘93 or whatever and it was really intimidating. People were complete geeks, while I was bad at even remembering names. In film studies there are a lot of questions about what director did this and who did what and when, blah blah, so I got really intimidated with everyone who knew so much. And people just wanted it more than I did. I found a bigger interest in communications so I made the switch.

Part of the reason I chose this major is it allows me to work in media anywhere in the world. My dream is to travel and work at the same time and not be stuck in work; with journalism you can really travel for work or make travel your work. I’m still really into film - I’m part of the film and photo society of UCLA and we do productions and shoots and stuff. Staying involved in film activities is fun and exciting and lower pressure and keeps me engaged with other students.

What do you enjoy about your communications and journalism studies now?

One of the topics that interests me the most is anything that has to do with the environment: pollution, climate change... it’s interesting and inspiring to see younger people being so involved even when they can’t vote. For example, the Swedish girl Greta Thunberg is doing great things for the environment and it’s so interesting because she doesn’t even vote or own her own money so it’s not like she can make her own massive economic choices - yet she can still have an impact. Smaller countries making big choices to be more sustainable and big politics fighting to change policies is really inspiring to me.

How did you get involved with PCH Tutors?

I had some tutors growing up, mostly with math because I’m terrible at math. When I moved to LA I found an ad for PCH, probably around 2015. I had given French lessons when I was in Canada, because I would do language trades with Canadians while learning English. PCH seemed like a really cool company and I loved that I could make my own hours. Plus, I got along with Jake really well: he’s cool and I love the company and the fact that he started this fresh out of college. I thought that was so awesome. It showed entrepreneurship.

I love working with teens and kids. I had some experience as a leader and counselor at summer camps and I always had a blast. They’re so smart, and especially with languages they can pick up on it quickly. I love my students.

What’s your favorite part of the job?

I have had an easy time getting along with my students and getting a bond going. It’s really special when students start looking forward to our lessons. I had a student last year who would look forward to asking me movies to watch in French after our session. That’s cool!

What’s your tutoring style?

At least for languages, I focus a lot on repetition. You don’t learn grammar by seeing it once and then you get it: it’s doing it over and over and creating muscle memory in your brain. Little things help: like if there’s a long list of vocabulary to learn and it’s overwhelming, I give tips on how to remember the words and try to link them to English words to help it stick. Finding little things in the word that remind you of the translation and trying to build links to try to remember them - those are things I find useful.

What’s a tutoring mantra you’ve learned and developed through your experience?

“Just go ahead and try it.” If there’s a sentence a student has to translate, and the student doesn’t know how to go about it, I say just try and go ahead. At first you think you don’t know but if you try it, you find out you do know it or you figure it out.

Sometimes students are afraid to try something and be wrong, but it’s all about creating a space to say, “It’s okay to be wrong. Don’t be afraid to be wrong. Even if you screw up, it’s okay.” Lots of school pressure makes students afraid to fail, and sometimes it works its opposite purpose and destroys students’ confidence. But truly - and this is something I’m learning through tutoring and try to teach my students - there is no pressure if you don’t succeed. We can do it again, and you’ll learn for the next time.

What’s something you’ve learned from a mentor or tutor?

My parents focused a lot on being patient in general. It’s easier said than done but if something doesn’t work out, don’t “to hell with it”: be patient and try it again. That applies to my style of teaching as well. If a kid doesn’t understand a certain way, it’s about finding a way to explain same ideas to students. We are all wired differently in our brains and it’s all about being creative and finding different ways to explain the same concept to different people. I have learned I like encouragement so I use that too, to reinforce that they’re doing a great job.

What do you do in your free time?

In my free time I’m pretty busy with extracurriculars at UCLA - film and photo in different productions - or I like to do yoga or hike with my dog. I have a dog named Manuka - like the honey - so we go hiking because we both love to be outside. I like going to the beach or just on a nice walk and listen to music. I spend a lot of time with UCLA at different clubs - I am a part of the transfer student body helping incoming transfer students adapt to their new life at UCLA because sometimes it can be a bit nontraditional when you only have two years to take advantage of everything UCLA has to offer. It can be overwhelming, so I enjoy helping UCLA transfer students get resources.

As a former film major, do you have a favorite movie?

Well my most watched film - though I don’t know if it’s my absolute favorite - is Singing in the Rain: I’ve probably seen it over 200 times. I saw Green Book yesterday and that was really good. I’m a big Forrest Gump fan, too. It’s so difficult to pick one favorite film! Amelie is a favorite French film.

Meet The Team: Elisabeth H.

Elisabeth H. is a junior international studies major and economics/Hispanic studies minor at Pepperdine University. Originally hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Elisabeth considers her move to the west coast an unplanned “fluke,” but couldn’t be happier to be here. After a stint majoring in pre-med, she studied abroad in Argentina for eight months, an experience which changed her life and her entire career trajectory. Find out why with this inspiring interview!

How did a Midwest girl end up in California for college?

I had never been to California before I moved to Pepperdine. I never saw myself as a west coast kind of girl: my extended family lives on the east coast and it felt like a fluke that I ended up out here. But I came because I was given an academic merit scholarship that helped fund a good portion of my tuition. For me, it feels like God’s Providence that I’m here. Pepperdine was an outlier from all the east coast schools I applied to, and I didn’t expect it, but now that I’m here I really love it and feel like I’m supposed to be here.

Now that you’re a California Girl ™, do you surf?

I’ve only tried surfing a few times and it was pretty disastrous. But now I can’t handle cold weather: I’ve become weak. In that sense I’m a California girl!

How did you choose international studies as your major?

I was originally pre-med - my first two years at Pepperdine were full of science classes - but when I came back from abroad the beginning of this school year, I switched my focus because studying abroad in Argentina was really formative for me. I love Spanish and felt like while I could be a doctor and find a way to enjoy that career, it wasn’t my passion or what I loved or what I wanted to read about in my free time. I always had seen myself in science - science was more than a little piece of my identity, really - so it was a hard adjustment at first to be a non-science major. I had a mini identity crisis. But I switched to international studies because I really feel like my passions lie in politics and formulations and economics. I would love to work someday in a government role and go back to Latin America and live and work there again.

I added the minors of economics and Hispanic studies as well because I’ve always been interested in Spanish and originally thought I might even major or minor in it. Economics I just added this year after I took a class and loved it - I’ve gained a real passion for economics. I feel like economics is a way to change the world: the intricacies of it help to make smart and informed economic decisions. Development relies on that kind of education to build up places around the world: after all, robust economic institutions lead to robust political institutions.

How did Argentina prompt you to make such a radical change in your field of study?

I fell in love with the people and culture. I am fascinated by the history of Argentina’s cultural and political development, especially in how it has differed from US history and development. It fostered a bigger curiosity in me for politics, economics, Spanish, and understanding different cultures around the world.

How did your family respond to the change?

My family was pretty supportive. They’ve always trusted my decisions and trusted that I am making them with a clear head. I think they were a little apprehensive at first - especially my dad, dads will always worry a little - just about whether I could be financially stable when I graduate. But they see the importance of this field, and my passion, and they’re trusting it to work out.

How did you get started tutoring?

I started working at PCH the first semester of my freshman year after some friends referred me. Before I started tutoring, I didn’t know if I would like it or if it would be for me. But then I started it and really loved working one-on-one and developing relationships with high schoolers. I love the feeling of helping someone understand something, and when you finally find the right way to explain something that makes sense to them, that’s so rewarding. I get really invested in the students and I get excited when they understand something or get a good grade on a test.

What has had the biggest effect on you as a tutor?

Something that has really impacted me working with PCH Tutors is how these families really get to know you. I feel lucky to be paired up with families that know me and appreciate me. My freshman year I had a student who, the first time I came to their home, their mom asked me right away how I liked my tea. Every time after that whenever I came as soon as I sat down she brought me a tea made just the way I’d said I liked it the first time.

As a college student, you don’t get a ton of access to “normal” families and normal life, so for me this was something that really just was grounding. Twice a week I’d get to go and sit with this family and drink tea with them and be a part of their lives. It’s always been a stand-out community moment and something I love about tutoring with PCH.

What have you learned as a tutor/teacher?

I’ve been learning that not everyone’s minds work the same way. It seems like an obvious thing, but for me what’s been important is realizing that I can spin something this way, then use this example, then explain it that way, and overall try a bunch of different things with a student until we find what works. Because how I understand is quite often different from how someone else understands an idea or concept.

Working to find different creative ways and examples was something I needed to practice at and tutoring has definitely helped me understand that and made it clear to me how our minds work so many different ways. That doesn’t mean someone is more intelligent or disciplined than another. Some people work creatively and others work analytically. That understanding also plays into my love for understanding and engaging other cultures - international studies.

Who has been an influence on you and your tutor/mentor style?

My mom is a high school physics teacher and I had her as a teacher in high school. I went to a small high school so a lot of my friends had her as a teacher as well. She also led my high school robotics team - she was the coach, and I was on the team. Something that stood out, learning from my mom - she is one of my mentors but also a teacher - has been that I’ve been able to see how impactful and life-changing teaching can be. My mom always goes the extra mile, she stays late any time students need help - even students from other classes - she’s compassionate and selfless, loves people well, and is able to help students feel comfortable going to her with questions. She gives students a lot of grace and compassion. Seeing and experiencing that firsthand as a daughter and student and on the robotics team, and observing that through friends, I’ve seen how important it is to love people well and put them in an environment where they can learn and also mess up and make mistakes.

What is something you’ve found valuable that you enjoy sharing with your students?

One thing I really love to do is kind of what I was saying about my mom: it’s important to build relationships. If a student is comfortable with me, then they’re comfortable messing up, which is good because you learn so much from messing up. Building a relationship with that student and have it be a comfortable learning environment is what I’ve learned the most, and is the most effective.

What do you do for fun in your free time?

I have another job here on campus, I work for the Pepperdine Volunteer Center, that is something I spent a lot of time on and in that role I get to help match students up with service opportunities and plan cool stuff like blood drives and service days. That’s not really my free time per se, but it’s something I enjoy doing. I love to do all your typical things like go to the beach and eat food and read and travel, so in my actual free time I’m probably doing something like that.

I really really love podcasts, so many podcasts, it’s super nerdy.

Do you have any favorite podcasts you’d recommend?

I have a few, you might not want to get me started on that tangent! But currently I really like Radiolab and NPR’s Left, Right and Center, which posits politics and news from all the spectrum of perspectives. It’s good to hear all sides of an issue and have a full view of the event or whatever is happening in the news so you don’t get silo-d into your own views.

As an international studies student, do you have a favorite travel moment?

One of my favorite moments from being abroad was in Argentina last year. One of the things we did every Saturday was go to a farm about two hours from the city. We’d hang out with families that built this community away from the city for people struggling from drug problems. The story is that these parents had struggled with drugs but eventually got clean and moved out of the city and started a rehab-like community in the country with about 60 people. Every weekend we played soccer and ate and painted and practiced Spanish and played music and formed deep friendships with them: all these kids and teens and university students who grew up on this farm. That’s one of my favorite moments and memories of community in Argentina, getting to know people and culture and understanding friendships so intimately.

What’s your favorite Argentine food?

Medialunas. They’re like croissants, but a little denser, with a sugary glaze.

What else should we know about you?

The most important thing about me is that I have a nephew named Carson who is almost a year old. He’s the most lovable and best thing in my life. That is my favorite thing about me: Carson.

What’s something you’ve learned recently that you’ll take with you?

That studies don’t define what we have to do for the rest of our lives. It’s comforting to know my major doesn’t define me or what I want to do. In fact, my career will probably pivot and I’ll probably be doing a lot of things. That’s how it goes these days. But that’s okay.

Meet The Team: Roarke M.

Roarke M. is a freshman poli-sci/pre-law major at Pepperdine University and specializes in math tutoring for PCH. Yes, her parents named her after Sandra Bullock’s character in A Time to Kill. They just thought it was cool. Real-life Roarke is pretty cool, too - read more and see for yourself!

Where are you from?

My dad is from Australia and mom is from Indiana. I was born in Australia and lived there for a short bit before we moved back to Terre Haute, Indiana. I’m a dual citizen.

How did you end up at Pepperdine?

I had a close family friend in LA. After he attended a church service at Pepperdine, he wholeheartedly believed I should go there. I’d applied for several colleges around the US but just to humor him, I sent an application to Pepperdine as well. When I finally went for a visit, though, I really liked it. And here I am.

What are you studying?

I’m a freshman in political science and pre-law, with a nonprofit management minor.

Do you know what you’d like to do with these degrees after you graduate?

At this point, I’m hoping to leave my options open - with a law degree I know I can do a range of things, but with the nonprofit management I’d like to get into the social action and justice realm; the human rights sphere of things. I found that passion at the end of high school, and because of that I love how diverse it is out here in Californi

Talk about your passion for social justice.

My first year at Pepperdine I took a seminar in social action and justice - I’d never gotten to take a class like that, ever. It was incredible to experience learning about being less discriminatory and more accepting, but in a classroom setting. It changed my outlook and in general how I live my life - even how I talk in conversation with people and how I see the media and politics. It’s expanded my mind and desire to be a better human to others. I hope to one day bring some of that California culture to places like back home.

How did you get started with PCH Tutors?

Once I got to Pepperdine last summer, I needed to work. I joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority - and a majority of the girls are tutors. They hooked me up with PCH and I got started right away. It’s been a super awesome connection.

Do you have any tutoring success stories?

I started tutoring toward the middle of fall semester, so at first I was picking up students who were getting Ds or failing their math classes, which was a challenge to jump into it. But a lot of the students I tutor are freshmen in high school and I’m really not that much older than they are, so it’s cool to be able to connect on a more friendship-type level and give them encouraging support, like to be able to text them and say, “Good luck on your test. Our relationship isn’t just working on graphs all weekend.

I’ve made some super awesome friendships with some of the girls I’ve gotten to tutor, and now it’s been nice to be able to start strong this spring semester with fresh classes and grades. It’s also been awesome to make family connections since I’m so far from home. I even go to the same church as one of my student’s families!

What have you learned since becoming a tutor?

I’ve figured out that I learn in a different way than I have figured out some of these students learn. Even though most of my students are freshmen and sophomores all taking the same class, I have to approach every single person in a different way because they all learn in different ways. Some prefer going through problems on a whiteboard, some of us talk through things first, some need metaphors, and some just need me to show them how it works. At first I tried to teach them all in the same way I was tutored, but then I realized that as a tutor you have to be dynamic enough to help everyone succeed in their own special way. That’s what I’m learning to develop and grow in more right now.

You’re home in Indiana for spring break right now. How are your students faring without you?

I FaceTime whenever I’m at home with my kids who need regular weekly lessons. I’ve done it before, helping someone write their essays. It’s great!

What do you do for fun?

I played golf in high school and now that I’m officially “retired,” I often end up at Top Golf with my friends. I’m here right now!

I sing on the celebration chapel worship band at Pepperdine, carrying over my choir passion from high school when I sang in the choir. I also participate in Pi Beta Phi philanthropy, of course - every now and then we go to a nearby school and read to kids which is super cool, and lines up with my passion for helping grow in their academics.

Have you read anything good lately that you’d recommend?

Yes! Tortilla Curtain - a lot of my students live in Topanga Canyon so it’s very cool that the story is set here - it’s about a refugee who immigrated from Mexico to California and lives in Topanga Canyon. It’s essentially about the journey of his life and the integration of people who come from Mexico to California.

Meet The Team: Heather P.

Heather P. is the PCH Tutors account manager and the most recent addition to the staff. Originally from Pleasantville, New York, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a degree in international studies and Spanish, then earned a master’s in childhood education and special education at Hunter College in New York before teaching for several years in Manhattan. After subsequent adventures including world travel, teaching yoga, and working in ad sales, she relocated to Los Angeles in 2017 to complete a second master’s in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and herbs. Heather has inspiring things to say about her multi-layered career and passion for helping educators maintain sanity and wellbeing. She maintains a wellness website and enjoys cooking healthy comfort dishes and learning how to better care for plants including her avocado tree, Gerard.

You’ve had a very circuitous career route! Did you always want to work in education?

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I wanted to take time in college to learn about the world and other cultures before I got a master’s in education. I spent time studying abroad in Jerusalem and taught English in Buenos Aires.

What brought you to Los Angeles?

When I was teaching in New York I started to do yoga and meditation to take better care of myself as a teacher and shared these tools with my students and other educators I was working with, and I really wanted to learn these tools to share and so that’s why I left teaching because I wanted to do a yoga teacher training and other things. I started working for a company that led yoga and wellness trainings for educators, and I taught yoga at a private school, teaching two to six-year-olds - it was really fun to just see kids really go for it. Even four-year-olds are really stressed out these days.

How do you teach yoga to two-year-olds?

They’re the best at it. They do everything you say and they love it. And you can sing songs and dance with them, too.

What inspired to you to pursue studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture?

Working with teachers and educators and seeing their burnout was my focus for a while and then I started seeing a lot of stress and imbalances among people of all professions, and how much yoga and breathwork and energy work can help. I wanted to learn more about alternative medicine to help not only educators but all different humans.

In the mid-2000s I was having a lot of skin issues and a lot of western medical doctors didn’t know how to help me. They were giving me like steroid cream for the back of my neck and stuff for my scalp and didn’t know how to help and ultimately an acupuncturist helped to balance everything and told me to stop eating gluten and stop using chemicals in a lot of things I was doing. Now I think a lot more western medical doctors know more about these things, but at the time they really couldn’t help me. I started getting acupuncture and lymphatic drainage and reiki - I’m also a reiki practitioner - so that was really cool for me to heal personally from those modalities. From then on I started thinking about doing acupuncture.

I started leading 200-hour yoga teacher trainings for educators and teaching them how to take better care of themselves so they don’t experience as much stress and burnout. And teaching them tools to teach their own community: students, families, and their personal communities. It’s really amazing work.

When I wanted to further my wellness practice after I did yoga teacher training I thought I might as well just follow my dreams, you know?

How does acupuncture even work?

There are a lot of different approaches. One is muscular; stimulating certain muscles. But then there’s this whole meridian configuration that I will learn about for four years. There is a lot to learn, and studying herbs, too, has been pretty cool.

What makes you passionate about teaching self-care and giving people these tools for it, and educators specifically?

I think teachers and educators are the most important people in the world and definitely don’t get enough of anything - pay, nor emotional support, nor recognition. And having gone through that myself and feeling that I didn’t have the support and care that I needed - I want to take good care of tutors and teachers so that they can create better younger people and make the world a better place. With that, also just interested in working with all different kinds of people and also specifically helping people to navigate - not only do I find education to be a place where there’s a lot of un-clarity, I feel like there’s not a lot of support and I feel like I’ve experienced the same in the medical world so I think that what I’m doing ties together my personal issues with education and the healthcare system.

But it’s taken a long time to figure all this out. There was no way I could be a school teacher and learn and do all the other things I was passionate about. This ties all those together.

What drew you to working with PCH Tutors, especially in the midst of your busy studying schedule?

My experience - and observation of others - in finding tutors is “oh, somebody knows a tutor, let me call that one person.” But I really like how PCH Tutors puts that time, care and effort into hiring quality people and not only that but matching them with people whose personalities match and their skill sets match. It’s nice to see that process and see students getting the help they need.

What’s some advice you’ve received from a teacher or mentor that you’ve found to be really valuable?

This may sound cheesy but one of my yoga teachers once wrote in a card to me, “More truth will set you free.” To me, I think that mostly just means be you who are, do what you want to do, and don’t worry so much about what society or your parents or whomever wants you to do. I think that’s really good advice because I think often people may end up going to a certain college because that is what they think they should do or studying and then not being interested in it or not. Like, if you’re going to have to work until you’re 120 these days, you might as well be doing what you like to do! I wish someone had told me this way earlier and it’s something I like to share with others.

Is there a mantra or some advice you like to share when you’re leading trainings or teaching others?

This is kind of connected to what I just said, but I feel like it’s been hard for me to have a lot of different careers and change direction a bunch. And so I think just something I remind myself is that I am strong and smart and can do these things. I try to focus on the positive attitude instead of feeling that I should be doing something because everyone else is doing that thing. Just staying true to what it is you want to do and knowing that you can.

Do you have any time for fun?

I’m so busy right now. But I like cooking - I think homemade food is what’s missing from a lot of people’s lives. I’m not very good at growing plants but I also have a handful of plants in my bedroom that I’m trying to grow including an avocado plant that has been really fun. I’m doing it from a pit. It has huge, beautiful leaves right now. It’s hard not to kill it. You have to change the water.

What’s your best dish?

Right now I’m really into fried rice but I don’t use soy sauce, I use coconut aminos which are a hidden gem. If you don’t use that you should go buy it ASAP. I’m also making lamb stew - I have a really good recipe that’s lamb and rice. Usually I don’t like to mix foods together - I’ll have everything separate on my plate but there’s one dish where you make the lamb, you make the rice, and then you make a cucumber-feta-tomato-delicious salad, and then you mix it all together, it’s really good. I’ve also been making homemade chicken soup which has been really amazing because it’s freezing and raining every day. Cold foods are anti-Chinese medicine but I also really like smoothies.

Why is cold food anti-Chinese medicine?

Because food’s supposed to build and nourish the fire, so eating warm and cooked foods is good and cold dishes are not. It takes more time and energy for your body to turn it into what it wants it to be. Also, Americans tend to be scared of fat but I’m into those healthy fats because it’s really fat that makes you skinny.

Hence, Bulletproof coffee and avocado trees.

Yes!

Does your avocado tree have a name?

Ooh, no, but I’d love suggestions.

Post Script:

PCH Tutors conducted an Instagram poll [@pchtutors] to find the perfect name for Heather’s avocado tree. The roundup included:

• Guac

• Nacho Avocado Tree

• Gerard

• Terry

• Toast

• Avi

Heather chose Gerard.