Will We Click? Let's honor the intention and purpose of our time together.

This is more than me just answering your questions. As in any relationship destined for success, we need to be an aligned fit for each other.

Imagine how much better things would be if instead of ending up in an organic chemistry induced fetal position, you actually ended up enjoying the course and you came away from our time together with more than just a high grade.

When you and I team up on this journey, I am looking to do more than simply turn you into an organic chemistry problem solving prodigy.

I’m hoping for an inspiring experience together where we both achieve something much greater than you simply getting an A in the class and me carving out a living.

It's always a great feeling when people with a shared goal accomplish something significant together. When you bask in the glory of the success that your blood, sweat, and tears led to, it makes for cherished memories. If you have ever been involved in a theater performance, played team sports, or done something partner-based like ballroom dance competition, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Believe it or not, the two of us working together on organic chemistry can create this kind of experience.

I have had several students who came to me saying they were afraid of the course and then went on to become organic chemistry teaching fellows, teaching assistants, and tutors.

One student credited me for being the catalyst that led him to switch his major from biology to chemistry after being inspired by my passion and “bitten by the ochem bug!”

I’ve enjoyed many lunches and dinners with students, have grabbed celebratory beers with students after finals (students over 21 of course!), and have forged numerous friendships that continued long after the organic chemistry course was finished.

This stuff is awesome and way more meaningful to me than us just talking about stereoisomers.

We all love getting an A, but the real magic occurs when you and I accomplish something memorable together and there’s a little bit of sadness when we come to the end of the course because we're gonna kind of miss each other. It may sound sappy to say our organic chemistry connection could lead to that, but I assure you that is a real possibility.

nice cards from students over the years

Organic Chemistry: so much more than a weed-out class.

"Life is about the journey, not the destination."

I know you want to walk away from the course with an A on your transcript (and I want that for you too), but I also hope you can be open to the idea that the skills necessary to authentically dominate an organic chemistry course are skills that have cross-over application into many important areas of life. Some examples are:

Organic chemistry is a clinic on learning how to learn and how to apply knowledge. One of the most rewarding things students tell me is that the skills they learned in how to approach this course translated over to how they approached their other courses. They ended up doing better in their other classes because they learned how to become a better student.
An organic chemistry course teaches us how to diagnose situations, think critically, draw conclusions, and prescribe solutions that work. These are some of the most important skills a health professional needs to develop.
The course is a preview of the level of academic rigor you will encounter in your medical, dental, and veterinary school courses. You get the chance to see if you really want a future that involves taking multiple courses simultaneously of this challenge level.
Doing well in an organic chemistry class because you mastered the material and performed well on exams is a confidence booster and something to be proud of.

These are just a few reasons to make an honest effort to approach the course with integrity and a good attitude.

If any of the bullet points below describe you, SWIPE LEFT.

If we’re going to be doing organic chemistry together, we’re going to be working with each other for a while. That means we enter into a relationship for a period of time and how we interact with each other will matter.

Just as you always have the option of discontinuing working with me for any reason, I reserve the option to discontinue working with you if you exhibit these behaviors:

You come to sessions unprepared. This means you have no game plan for the session and you have not worked on problems ahead of time.
Instead of using your homework as an important tool for developing your understanding and mastery, you just want someone else to do your homework for you.
You routinely cancel sessions last minute or think tutoring can be treated like optional drop-in office hours.
You treat me disrespectfully.

If any of the above bullets describes you and your philosophy, don't contact me.

"What you allow is what will continue."

Having lived the reality of that statement, I am taking active steps to align with students who value WHY I do what I do and who are willing to do their part for both of us to experience our full potential.

If you are the student being described by the thumbs-down bullet points above, I will figure it out and will stop working with you.

So please be realistic about who you are and what you're seeking, because I prefer not needing to have the somber conversation where I'm forced to say, "It's not me, it's you."

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."

To those with solid work ethics, a willingness to actually do the work to learn organic chemistry, a belief in earning our accolades through honest effort, and the idea that relationships and our interactions matter, you are welcome with open arms! Let's crush organic chemistry together!

Let's make some good memories along the way too. As Zig Zigler once said,

"Success is in the doing, not in the getting; in the trying, not the triumph."