Tutoring

I have been tutoring with the Bruce Wells Upperbound Program for over a year now and sometimes I wonder if it is worth my time and effort and more importantly the time that I lose that I should be studying for school. It's been on my mind a lot lately but I can never reach any conclusion. On one hand, it can be very annoying and useless when I go and sit around for two hours because the students don't have any questions on their homework. Last week I went and all the students were in the computer lab. Obviously a bad place to be if you want to get any homework accomplished (believe me I know from personal experience). Most of the kids were occupied with their myspace accounts and the other students had no homework. I sat their for 2 hours wishing I was home doing my own homework. On the other hand, it can be extremely rewarding when I help the students understand concepts that they will use over and over again in the years to come. Today was one of those days. Luckily we had a class room to work in today and the moment I walked through the doors a student came up to me and asked me for help. I helped the kid with his algebra for nearly the whole two hours. I also got to help some other kids on the side. The best part about it all is that moment when you can tell that the student understands the concept and will be able to do the problem again on their own. I love that! So, I guess maybe for now I will stick with it:)