tutoring gig

my friend’s apartment doesn’t have a coffee machine so the past few days i’ve been feeling off kilter. probably driven by caffeine withdrawal, I made the mistake of having coffee at 2 p.m. and an espresso macchiato at 5 p.m. . consequently, it’s 1 a.m. on saturday morning and i’m totally wired!

earlier on this week, i got an email from an undergrad looking for a tutor. the girl got a low score on her mid-term and needs help to pass the final. the exam is in a week and a half and the girl sounded like she needed a lot of help. . at $30/hr, i couldn’t pass it up.

we decided to meet in the afternoon to go over her “problem areas”. . . after talking for a few minutes, it became evident that the main problem was that she hadn’t really been studying and putting in enough effort (her words, not mine). the girl was a 3rd year student, doubling in econ and political science and was unconcerned about her GPA. it’s always shocking to me to meet students that are so ambivalent about learning and about their education.

in any case, i think i’ll definitely have my work cut out for me.

afterwards, i went to the promenade with a friend to pick out a birthday gift. walking along the oceanside and across the pier just reminded me how nice it is to live in los angeles. it will be hard to leave this place. i’ve come to really enjoy and appreciate many aspects of living in California. a friend from college was asking me where i was considering re-locating to. she suggested chicago. there are a handful of cities that i would seriously consider living in, los angeles, new york, seattle, san francisco, and d.c. but the idea of moving to starting over completely, both in terms of career and friends, is too daunting.

after our walk, we went to get dinner at the counter. a laid back restaurant on ocean park. they make burgers to order. i had 1/3 lb of ground meat, grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, roasted chilis, and baby greens with roasted garlic aioli! with a side of onion fries and washed down with stella beer, it totally hit the spot.