Rebecca Zook - Math Tutoring Online

At the age of 82, Columbian native Ana Reynales earned her bachelor’s degree! When she arrived in the US at the age of 60, she started studying English right away at Northern Virginia Community College, and “earned multiple associates degrees in applied sciences before enrolling at Mason.”

Now that she has her bachelor’s, Reynales’s goal is to become a Spanish teacher at the university level, and says, “I plan to continue studying for as long as I can.” She wants to help others to learn English or Spanish, particularly focusing on “assisting illiterate adults to learn to read and write, and eventually help them to get back into school.”

“The secret is to start everything at the most basic level, learning the main principles before moving on,” Reynales says. “I used to get so frustrated with my studies before I learned to start at the beginning. I had to learn patience before I could learn anything else.”

What an awesome example of “beginner’s mind”!!! What an inspiring story!!! I love what Ms. Reynales has to say about going back to basics. I feel that a big part of my job as a tutor is finding where the missing links are and helping students to fill it in. It seems that this inspiring lady has learned to do that completely by herself—and look at what that has enabled her to do!

I know I’ve wasted so much time by trying to skip ahead and being frustrated with myself for not moving at the same pace as others. But I do believe that if you’re willing to start wherever you actually are, wherever you need to begin, so many more paths are open to you.

Thanks to my brother, who forwarded this article to me!! I am super proud of him for also graduating this spring from George Mason with his Masters in Public Policy, and for being selected to be included in this article because of his awesome accomplishments!!!

(I learned about this story via the George Mason Gazette, Oldest Grad of 2009 Earns Foreign Languages Degree at 82 [by Dave Andrews]).

From my favorite magazine, The Week:

Youngest sailor completes solo journey around the world

Zac Sunderland has become the youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate the globe alone. Only 16½ when he set forth from Marina del Rey, Calif., in June 2008 aboard a 36-foot sloop, he returned last week after 13 months to become the first person ever to complete the solo journey before his 18th birthday. “I think society puts young people in a box—people 15, 16, 17—and does not expect them to do much but go to high school and play football and stuff like that,” Sunderland said. “This just shows they can do a lot more with some strong ambition and desire.”

I found this so inspiring, especially Sunderland’s quote at the end. And part of the reason Sunderland was able to take his journey is that he’d already completed all of his advanced math classes!