Sharon Wanderdam
We celebrate Sharon Wanderdam as our Firefly Tutor for April 2022. She resides in Davis, California, and brings over 7 years of experience to our program. Sharon loves making personal connections with each of her students. This special bond makes the sessions fun, and heartening for both. Trust helps students become more receptive and comfortable to ask questions and reach their academic goals.
Sharon tutors math, science, and reading. Her favorite subjects are math and physics. Sharon completed a Bachelor of Arts in Physics at the University of California, Davis in 2020. Her favorite tip for students is to show self-kindness when they make mistakes and to remember that the mistakes will actually help them learn and develop keen awareness.
Her favorite tutor memory was helping one of her younger students study for a spelling test. She was struggling to remember a handful of words, so they spent the complete session practicing. The student showed frustration and wanted to quit. With steady effort throughout the session, she made fewer and fewer mistakes. When she got to the point of spelling all of them correctly without Sharon’s help, her face lit up and she was so proud of herself. It was so fun and inspiring to celebrate her success and watch her motivation increase after that point.
In her free time, Sharon loves to paint, read, do interior design, spend time outdoors, and play with her two cats. She is the second youngest of 8 siblings, a granddaughter of a world record pole vaulter, and has always wanted to write a science fiction novel.
