PrepNow Tutor - Nat N.
A writer, programmer, and lifelong learner, Nat holds a BA in writing and rhetoric from the University of Utah. They started their career working in the Jones Lab for Connectomics at the University of Utah’s Moran Eye Center, where they were trusted to operate two transmission electron microscopes. After two years, Nat transitioned from the Jones Lab to focus on writing and indie game development while also sharing their expertise through teaching and tutoring.
Nat got started in education as a paraprofessional teacher’s aide in a high school special education department. “I wanted to use my knowledge, patience, and ability to explain difficult concepts, to help students whose minds worked in nontraditional ways,” Nat shares. “I found that the Special Ed department had students in it who were deeply intelligent, just struggling to fit into the systems around them. I loved learning how to individualize my approach with each student.” Nat’s proudest moment was when every senior they worked with, even the ones who struggled the most, graduated. Additionally, Nat tutors students in test prep and math up to the college level.
“My goal when teaching is to teach students to learn and think for themselves, and build self-confidence,” Nat says. “Students need to see that they can have fun and succeed at the same time, and the best way to teach this is to demonstrate one’s own joy for the material and for lifelong learning.” Nat hopes their time spent with students resonates with them long after and beyond the scores they get. “In teaching, I’ve experienced tangible moments where I improved and enriched students’ lives in ways that only I could. I bring my whole self to my endeavors and I want to help my students do the same,” Nat reflects.
At the University of Utah, Nat received the Eccles Distinguished Scholarship, the most prestigious award for incoming first-years, which entailed being part of a four-year cohort taking extra classes in leadership. They also graduated with honors.
Nat loves rock climbing, playing video games, and reading literary fiction, history, sci-fi/fantasy, and comic books. They once worked for two months on an urban goat farm. “I love to teach because I had great teachers growing up who loved my work, and inspired me,” Nat says.
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