Tutor Spotlight: Connor Choptij
Photo credit: Connor Choptij
My name is Connor Choptij, and I am a recent graduate of Northeastern University as a Biology major on the pre-med track. While at Northeastern, I was involved in extracurriculars like the Artistry Magazine and Student Government, along with studying myopia in Northeastern’s Vision Lab. I now work at Sagely Health, an organization that connects cancer patients to innovative treatments and clinical trials, and enjoy reading and seeing my friends in my free time.
I heard about Potencia from Northeastern’s Community Service emails and immediately resonated with their message. Growing up, I often accompanied my Italian-speaking grandmother to her doctor's appointments, where I witnessed firsthand the impact of language barriers on healthcare experiences. It became evident to me that doctors who were comfortable navigating these barriers were able to provide a level of care that transcended medical treatment - they demonstrated empathy and understanding beyond language. During my time as a pre-med student in college, I had the opportunity to shadow various physicians. Among them, I found inspiration in those who effortlessly utilized a combination of gestures, expressions, and translation services to ensure effective communication and holistic care for their patients.
Joining Potencia was motivated not only by the desire to assist individuals learning English but also to equip myself for future interactions with patients who may not speak English. In my medical journey, my goal is to guarantee that all patients feel acknowledged and understood, and I believed Potencia would serve as an ideal platform to grow these essential communication skills.
In the past, my primary tutoring experiences had been in science courses and labs. Compared to these classes, my Potencia classes were different in quite a few ways. Mainly, I only had one student per Potencia class, while my other courses had up to 40 students. By focusing on only one student at a time, I was able to tailor my classes to my learner’s needs. For example, one of my learners was a cashier, therefore I focused my practice sentences on customer service situations, along with teaching information on American money. Due to small class sizes, I was also able to learn more about my learner’s culture, which would have been more difficult to do in a larger class. Lastly, I had never previously tutored a course where the students did not speak fluent English. At first, it was challenging to evaluate which words, sentence structures, and verb tenses my student knew. As the class continued, however, I began to realize the areas my students were strong in and areas that needed improvement. Furthermore, the communication style between other courses and Potencia classes are quite different. In my Potencia class, I utilized more clear and simple wording, along with pairing visuals, gestures, and real-life examples to enhance understanding where there may be a language barrier.
Teaching non-English speaking students truly allowed me to become more flexible and adaptable in my teaching style. As someone who is extremely regimented and a strong planner, I realized that it is okay if my courses do not go as planned. For instance, I planned an hour-long lesson around a topic my student knew quite well, therefore the lesson only took us 15 minutes. Since I did not have any other grammar to teach that day, I shifted the focus to American culture surrounding the end-of-year holidays, since it was close to Thanksgiving. I also adapted my courses to fit my student’s pace, as I realized she knew vocabulary quite well but needed more help with sentence structure and tenses. Teaching with Potencia also taught me the importance of utilizing universal language to teach concepts. In my Potencia class, I employed hand gestures, facial expressions, colors, and visuals to help teach English words, grammar, and cultural concepts because the perception of these elements is the same across all languages. I will be applying this idea of shared/universal language to my other courses where I teach English speakers by employing more visual elements into my lessons.
I love teaching because I am constantly inspired by my students’ growth, and my Potencia experience was no different. I gained an immense appreciation for non-English speakers currently living in America. Their determination to overcome language barriers and embrace a new way of life is so inspiring. Being able to see my learner begin to comfortably utilize new English sentence structures and words we learned in class has been one of the most rewarding teaching experiences I have ever had.
At Potencia, I am extremely excited to begin working with more students in the coming semester, along with helping to build Potencia’s curriculum and restore the tutor training handbook. I am currently applying to medical schools and plan to begin my medical journey in Fall of 2025.
