PrepNow Tutor - Jacob P.
A leader and a lifelong student, Jacob is always seeking new perspectives on the world and enjoys teaching any subject. He holds a BS in aerospace engineering from Western Michigan University. He also received an AS in mathematics and a second AS in pre-engineering from Macomb Community College. A recent graduate, Jacob is currently pursuing engineering positions while tutoring test prep. He has previously worked in experimental metallurgy, tech support, and the automotive field.
Jacob started tutoring for his community college in 2016 as a drop-in tutor at the learning center. “My proudest moment was developing a systematic method for guessing factors to divvy up trinomials into binomial pairs, a step of factoring trinomials that was a gray area and causing much consternation among my students,” Jacob recalls. “Watching my students develop the confidence to ‘get a feel’ for factorization by starting with my algorithm was fantastic.” Over the years, he has tutored algebra, trigonometry, calculus 1-3, linear algebra, physics, analytical physics, and macroeconomics.
Jacob describes his teaching style as methodical and step-based. “I use metaphors a lot, especially when teaching physics,” he explains. “I tend to do everything I can to experiment and find a wording or approach that works well for a particular student rather than using the same methods all the time.”
As a student, Jacob was president of his school’s competitive skydiving team. He has been a snowboarder since 2011. Jacob has worked as a research assistant developing experimental industrial processes under Dr. Tuttle at WMU. “I have competed in three engineering competitions, placing 18th out of the top 100 universities in aerospace in the AIAA DBF competition and 3rd in the AFS Wisconsin Regional casting competition,” Jacob shares.
He enjoys playing flute, having good conversations, and playing flight simulators. “I have taken off in an airplane thirty-two times, but only landed in one.”
