Fun Facts

I am a big time sports enthusiast. I have played over 10 different sports including soccer, football, basketball, track, cross country, tennis, golf, swimming, gymnastics, and during my freshman year at the portland">University of Portland I was a member of the crew team (rowing). I also enjoy watching sports and talking and arguing about sports. I think sports are a great part of a kid's life and I always want them to be a big part of mine as I hope to get a job in the athletic apparel industry or work directly for a sports franchise.

Another fun fact is that although I have never left the continent, I have worked on both coasts, as last summer I worked in Maryland as a department clerk. I also hope to travel and live around the world, with my goal of visiting all 7 continents.

About Me

Hi, my name is Austin Rakestraw. I was born and raised in Beaverton, Oregon and haved stayed in the area my whole life. Currently, I am a Junior at the portland">University of Portland, majoring in operations management and finance. I enjoy helping other students, especially the youth because of its intrinsic benefits. I am an outdoors enthusiast and enjoy everything from hiking to camping, fishing, rock climbing, and trail running. I am also a big time sports enthusiast and one day I hope to work for either an athletic apparel company or for a sports franchise.

During my freshman year at the portland">University of Portland, I worked as a portland">tutor through the University to help a variety of students at different levels. I primarily taught math to kindergartners, sixth graders, highschool freshman, juniors and seniors. I also assisted during a homework session at the highschool where students worked on all types and classes of homework. The experience I gained portland">tutoring was very valuable as it helped me communicate more efficiently, assess and solve problems more effectively, and I learned that it is important to reach students on a personal level in order for them to better grasp and be more willing to grasp the material and eventually succeed. This realization brings me to how I approach portland">tutoring.

The first thing I do when I start to portland">tutor a student is just to be personable and talk to the student to get a feel for how they learn and how I can effectively communicate ideas and concepts in terms that they will understand and better grasp. In addition, by talking and having a personable conversation with the student I feel that they will be more willing to try and perserve through the material. After connecting with the student, I like to have them do practice problems so I can assess where problems may occur and whether the problem is simply a misunderstanding of arithmetic or if the student is having a hard time conceptualizing and then utilizing the material. After I assess the issue, I work with the student to try and fix the issue. This means explaining the misunderstood concept through ways I have learned, the way the teacher prefers, or in a way that I feel the student would best understand. I then give the student more practice problems and go slowly with them through it to ensure the material was successfully understood. Finally, I give more questions as part of a final quiz and let the student to work through them by themselves to establish that they learned the material and that they can do it on their own. Once they can do that and they are confident with the material than my job is done and i proceed to the next issue. That is how I approach portland">tutoring.