Esther earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Uyo and currently works as a private and IELTS tutor. She has 5 years of tutoring experience and has helped over 100 students reach their academic goals. Her interest in tutoring began when she was a course representative, creating tutorials for her colleagues in various subjects they struggled with. This experience sparked her enthusiasm for imparting knowledge.
Esther’s passion for tutoring stems from the satisfaction she feels when she’s able to help students solve their problems and reach their goals. She offers expertise in various courses, such as English, accounting, economics, social studies, biology, business studies, business management, and math. She also excels in ACT and SAT tutoring.
As a tutor, Esther embodies kindness, patience, understanding, encouragement, and a fun learning approach. She strongly believes that teachers can either build or break students, so she always leads with encouragement and aims to create a safe learning environment where even the smallest achievements are celebrated. Her teaching techniques involve creating lessons that fit the pace at which each student learns and finding fun ways to keep them engaged and motivated.
Esther excels in understanding students’ individual strengths and weaknesses and customizing lessons to meet their needs. Recognizing the diversity in learning speeds, Esther adeptly gauges students' understanding through body language and adjusts her teaching methods accordingly. In moments of uncertainty or disengagement, she is dedicated to identifying and promptly resolving issues, ensuring effective tutoring.
When she’s not tutoring, Esther enjoys spending time with her friends.
Bria is a distinguished alumna of the University of California, Berkeley, earning both a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees. While at UC Berkeley, she served as a mentor and application guide for students within TAMID.
Bria intimately understands the stress and uncertainty of the college application process. As an only child, she lacked a role model to turn to for advice, ultimately navigating the process without the guidance she now provides. This personal experience fuels her passion to be that guiding light for others.
As a coach, Bria excels at being supportive and giving constructive feedback. When editing resumes or essays, she always tries to do what she calls a compliment sandwich – start with a compliment, add what needs to be changed/fixed, and then end with another compliment. Bria knows criticism can sometimes come off as harsh or offensive, even if it is not meant to be, so she found this is a good way to get the message across and have students feel good about themselves and their writing.
When working with students who are hitting a learning block, Bria uses positive reinforcement and encouragement to remind them of their end goal and that all their hard work will pay off. She is always optimistic, outgoing, kind, compassionate, and empathetic.
Outside of counseling Bria is a travel agent as a side hustle because she is passionate about travel and helping others travel, too. She’s been fortunate enough to visit 26 countries so far! When she’s not working or traveling, she loves to cook and bake, hike and be in nature, spend time with friends, watch TV, paint, and do puzzles.
Pamela has earned a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a PhD from Stanford University, where she served in admissions as an Application Reader. In this role, Pamela made admissions decisions and was part of a 40-person committee. This experience gave Pamela a profound understanding of institutional priorities, class balance, and the nuanced factors influencing admission decisions. Professionally, Pamela is an Admissions Interviewer at Stanford University School of Medicine.
As a first-generation international student, Pamela understands the challenges applicants face without access to resources. This personal history fuels her passion for ensuring that aspiring students are well-informed about the expectations of college admissions officers, recognizing the often opaque nature of the process.
With a background deeply rooted in education and academia, Pamela has witnessed the transformative power of learning throughout her professional life. She strategically emphasizes the importance of working hard and smart, instilling a holistic approach to the application process in her students. She navigates the complexities of the admissions process, acknowledging that merit is not the sole determinant.
Pamela's impressive track record speaks volumes, as applicants she has coached have gained admission to prestigious institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Duke, Penn, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, UCLA, Berkeley, Emory, Vanderbilt, and many others.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Pamela leads an active lifestyle immersed in nature, residing in the woods and engaging in hiking, rock climbing, running, and various outdoor pursuits. Complementing her coaching role, she dedicates time to teaching in prisons and volunteering as a Search and Rescue aid.
Our tutors are experts in biological sciences and have extensive teaching/tutoring experience or hold science-related degrees.
Foundation Learning welcomes parent involvement in our biology coaching programs. The progress tracker allows families to monitor the student’s progress as they complete their program.
Our pairing process involves learning more about students’ needs, goals, strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. We use this information to make an informed decision about which tutor would best align with what they’re seeking through our program.
Every student is unique – there’s no one-size-fits-all in tutoring. Our programs are highly customizable and adaptable to student and family needs. If you’re unsure which plan works best for you, our team is here to help you evaluate your options!