Master of forest science, BSc Science (neuroscience) with a love of French and English language

Trustworthiness in a tutor is a sought after, but often neglected virtue. Making mistakes can make anyone vulnerable, but this is magnified in adolescence and in the context of academics. Therefore, a student will not extend their boundaries of comfort unless they have a tutor they can trust and rely upon to rebuild their ego should it be shaken. Thus, Tutoring is as much about creating a warm and comfortable environment to allow mistakes to happen as the knowledge the tutor brings to these sessions.

Thankfully, Lilly carries both of these attributes in her tutoring approach.

I had the pleasure of being tutored by Lily for many years. I remember feeling underconfident in my academic ability prior to starting sessions with her. Looking simply at the facts, my grades improved in the subjects that Lilly tutored me in. She would mark essays I had written and we would dissect my work, targeting specific phrasing or ideas that i could improve on. On a superficial level, Lilly helped me get my grades up.

But I gained much more from our time than just essay tips. Lily helped develop my critical thinking, forcing me to question the world around me, and thus gain a deeper appreciation for it. If I didn't understand a marking rubric, Lilly would encourage me to ask questions such as 'what is the examiner asking here', 'why are they asking that' and 'why should you care'. These 'soft' skills helped propel me in other subjects and in subsequent university studies.

I recommend Lilly not because she knows a lot (even though she does). I recommend Lilly because she was able to create an atmosphere which reminded me why learning is fun. It is very easy in High School to get sucked in to the endless chase for good grades, but life is more than that, and Lilly helped me realise that. Lily created a space which made me want to question the world and seek answers to those questions, irrespective of my mark. Yes my grades did improve, but they only did that because I felt secure enough in our sessions to push my self and actually try. Currently studying medicine, I have not lost that love of learning that was fostered in my sessions with Lilly. She's an awesome tutor and any student will be lucky to have her.

Lilly really helped me practise speaking French and doing better at the writing side of things. After my holiday in France I realised how beneficial those lessons were.

Merci Lilly