As a student who loves school and learning, I have always felt a desire to pass that onto others. This prompted me to get involved with Ometz a few years back, when I started working with a young girl starting grade 4. Our Sunday morning meetings consisted mainly of reading books together – something I looked forward to doing each week. While school got in the way of my commitment to tutoring back then, I decided to take it up again recently. This time I got paired with a girl older than the first, studying Health Sciences in CEGEP. Having completed that same program myself, I was really looking forward to starting with her and passing on my love of sciences. We began meeting weekly at the library, where we worked together on calculus, chemistry and physics.

It did not take very long for me to realize that I had been paired with somebody very special. While she was having trouble with the majority of her science classes, due mainly to a lack of previous experience with the subject matter, she refused to give up and only continued to work harder as we worked together. She continued to amaze me each lesson; she not only reviewed in advance and came prepared with questions, but also continually showed and voiced how excited she was to be learning the topics and working together. She was completely appreciative to be receiving the help, as well as eager to learn everything and more so that she could continue working on her own later on.

This student demonstrates remarkable potential for success and it was incredibly rewarding to be able to work together to make sure that this potential was reached. Ometz provided me with an opportunity to be a teacher, a mentor and a friend. This proved to be an amazing learning experience for both the student and myself, as we worked together to master the material and build her confidence in her ability to do well. I was also given the opportunity to build a friendship that I never would been able to otherwise. This was truly a special experience and I now encourage my friends and family to take on similar opportunities in the community.