Courtesy of SBCC Tutor Expo

City College is preparing to welcome students from all across the state to showcase and discuss successful tutoring practices and learning techniques at the SoCal Tutor Expo on March 29-30.

The Tutor Expo aims to defeat the idea that asking for help makes you less capable.

“College is for everybody,” said Vandana Gavaskar, director of student services. “And we have to make sure that everyone can succeed no matter what preparation they came or didn’t come with.”

City College is hosting SoCal Tutor Expo for the first time and was chosen due to its strong and notable tutoring department and focus on student learning.

This free event will take place in the Garvin Theatre, West Campus Center, and Winslow overlook with breakfast and lunch provided.

“This event will be highly beneficial not only for student tutors but, for any student looking to enrich their learning process,” Gavaskar said.

Put on by the California Community Colleges Success Network, the event offers an opportunity to meet and learn from students from different community colleges.

Many students view tutoring as a service exclusively for struggling students, but “tutoring doesn’t have to have this stigma around it,” said City College tutor coordinator Tori McDonald.

Tutoring is becoming a more accepted and widely used form of learning. The expo will explore the ways it can best be used to benefit students.

“Tutoring has moved from remediation to really empowered learning for students,” said Gavaskar.

Students can learn from tutoring and get help from a peer who struggled through the same classes that they did.

When a tutor can tell a student that struggles with a problem it’s “hugely relieving” and helps remind students that they are good enough for college, Gavaskar said.

The Tutor Expo will feature a keynote speaker as well as numerous workshops and sessions put on by student tutors, some from City College.

Representing City College on a panel called “Peer Power is Sheer Power,” student tutor Cynthia Fernandez said that tutoring can even the playing field between students and help prepare them for the workforce.

Fernandez recounted how students often don’t know how to apply the knowledge they already have, and how collaborative group tutoring can teach students how to work in teams.

Peer tutoring is a way to appeal to all types of learners and make learning less intimidating.

“This space here on campus is trying to really encompass diversity,” said McDonald.