Lending a helping hand

Following their success with the college application process, three Diamond Bar High School seniors have started a tutoring program as a way to guide underclassmen through college applications and their general classes.

Accepted to Stanford via early action, Andrew Shi is a two-time American Invitational Mathematics Examination qualifier with an SAT score of 1570. The two other members have also achieved high marks, with Edmond You being a British Biology gold medalist and Allen Wang earning a silver medal at the USA Computing Olympiad.

The trio began their tutoring program last month and have been teaching students through one-on-one online sessions. In any given week, the seniors work with around seven to ten students.

“It was a collective group effort initiated by the three of us, inspired by the prospect of sharing the knowledge we’ve accumulated over the past four years,” Wang said via Instagram. “From gaining internship opportunities to developing key time-management skills, we aim to teach crucial skills to students that will help them maximize their potential to succeed in high school and beyond.”

Within the wide range of subjects the program provides, each session is catered toward the needs of each individual student. The seniors have worked through various levels in math, ranging from Geometry to AP Calculus, and prepared students for Biology and Chemistry exams. In the humanities subjects, they have collaborated with students on their creative writing projects, allowing students to express their voice through art forms. 

Outside of educational subjects, their work in college counseling is more focused on preparing students for their extracurricular activities and refining their applications for prestigious internships and summer programs. Wang focuses on teaching Math and Physics, while Shi and You cover a variety of other topics, including English and college essay writing.

“I’ve learned a lot from my high school experience, from finding opportunities to conduct my own research to strengthening my interpersonal relationships with my peers,” Shi said. “My friends and I want to give back to the DBHS community by sharing our highs and lows, the lessons we’ve learned, and the many ways to find success in high school, college, and beyond.”

The seniors plan to continue tutoring students during college while expanding their services to CAPA organizations in Southern California middle schools, hoping to facilitate students’ transitions from middle school to high school. 

“Our program has been extremely rewarding for us. We’re grateful to teach and share advice with our students,” Shi said. “Most of all, it’s a wonderful feeling when you’re able to communicate something to others and know that they understand it—and that they’ll share it with the people they interact with.”