Reflecting On Robson House From A Current Tutor

When I first came to the Shore boarding community in 2013 in Year 8, I was confused and intimidated by the idea of going to a tutor within the boarding house.  I felt that it was only for the smarter boys who knew what they were doing.  I figured that by going to the tutor, I would not only be wasting their time but the time of other boys waiting to see them.

As I progressed through my time at shore, I would only occasionally see the tutor.  Mainly during exam times, and mainly for the subjects I was more confident in.  It always felt like a chore going to the tutor and I only used it as a last resort.

That all changed in Year 11 with a tutor by the name Harry Azzopardi.  Harry was also an Old Boy of Shore Boarding, hailing from Hodges House.  I came to him with just one particularly difficult 3 Unit Maths question, but ended up staying for the rest of prep.  Although I cannot truthfully say that all that time was spent doing maths, it was a defining day in my HSC preparation.  After getting to know Harry, I felt an obligation to go down and see him whenever he was on.  So, every Tuesday, I would go down to him and go through that week’s backlog of unsolved maths questions.  Luckily for me, he also tutored in Physics and Chemistry and so some nights I would be down there for the full two hours.

During Year 12, more days than not, I was at a tutor.  At the beginning of the year, I got the tutoring roster and planned my studying around what tutors were on that night.  Not only did it break up the monotony of sitting at a desk all night but help me gain a deeper understanding of the topics and how they were going to be examined.  The most useful thing that I learned from going to the tutors was the general structure of HSC questions and how to go about answering them in the clearest and time efficient way.   

Now sitting here on the other side of a table, I feel the obligation to give back all that the tutors gave me.  Nowadays, there is a much larger range of year groups that come for help.  Everywhere from a Year 7 just starting to learn about algebra, all the way to Year 12 bringing me my years HSC papers.  Even though at times it can be overwhelming with 3 or 4 people all vying for your attention and the expectation of being the fountain of all knowledge, it is ultimately extremely rewarding when you can see the light switch, and they can grasp that concept a little bit easier. 

Kind Regards

Nicholas Hespe