I’m pretty fortunate that I came to The Ohio State University because whenever I need help on something, I have so many people I can rely on. Take, for example, that I badly required help in physics earlier this week. The first thing I did was ask my physics Teacher’s Assistant what his office hours are and when they provide free physics tutoring. He told me his specific office hours as well as where to get additional physics help. One of the places I could get it was inside the residential halls, specifically Scott Hall and Houck Hall. Scott Hall Room 249 and Houck Hall study room provided extra outside help from peers who were determined to help if it was needed. Personally, I wanted try this first because it is a little less formal and I can ask a peer with less pressure than I can a professor or a teacher’s assistant.
So I went to Alpheus Smith Laboratory of Physics where faculty who worked in the physics department tutored from 4-6 every week day. I have a bad habit of asking way too many questions, some of which have no prevalence to getting the answer, but I like to know why things are the way they are instead of just how things are. I walked into the building with no clue as to where to go. I walked around for about 15 minute until I came upon a sign in the corner of one of the bulletins that said “Tutoring Room 116”. It was odd to see such an important sign on such a crowded bulletin board with no significance shown to it. When I walked in, there were no signs anywhere near the door except a small sign on it, which was also somewhat shocking. As I walked in, there were students sitting everywhere but no one was talking to anyone else and no one gave any attention to me so I was not really sure who was in charge or who was the tutor. When I tapped on someone’s shoulder to ask where the tutor was, I was met with quick disappointment when I was told that the only time they tutored was between 4-6pm every week day. One of the problems was that my Fundamentals of Engineering 1181 class took place from 5-6 so half the time was not available to me. I arrived pretty early before it started so I was able to get help pretty successfully. When the tutor explained how to do problems that involved inclined planes, and the changing from static friction to kinetic friction and vise versa, it made more sense than anything my lecturer had ever explained. Unfortunately, I probably will not be returning to Smith Lab for physics tutoring because it is a big time commitment and I use spaces in my class schedule to work on other classes and to replenish my energy after an especially exhausting class. This experience was not bad in any sense of the word and made me realize that I should probably go get some help in it more often than not. I plan on attending more physics tutoring sessions at the Houck House study room from 7-9pm where I can ask countless questions and they can clearly explain to me what each idea means and how it relates to the situation. All in all, I really enjoyed being tutored and I plan to return many times for the rest of my academic career in all my subjects.