Ally

Certified Tutor

I am a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (JD 2019) and the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health (MPH 2013). I am now returning to my roots in community health and STEM fields and applying to medical school in hopes of becoming a primary care physician and public health advocate here in New Mexico, after spending 5+ years as a practicing public interest environmental and administrative attorney. As an attorney, I focused on the intersection of cumulative health impacts, environmental and climate justice, and public lands and natural resource law, and gained ample additional experience in writing and editing not only for courts and administrative agencies, but also for community advocates and coalition partners. I worked in coalitions with a variety of local/state and national community, health and environmental advocates and litigated successfully in federal district and appellate courts.
Before law school, I worked in Cochabamba, Bolivia with an organization of women's construction cooperatives on issues related to child care, nutrition, occupational health, and gender empowerment. Prior to that, I worked as an Association of Schools and Programs for Public Health post-MPH fellow in Washington, D.C., where I focused on children's environmental health issues. Before that, I spent a year in AmeriCorps Community HealthCorps of Northern California, designing and conducting health and science education and career mentoring programs for k-12 students in beautiful Mendocino County.
As an undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma, I studied biology, Latin American studies, and Spanish, and also majored in music performance major (french horn and piano) for a while before deciding to pursue music in a more relaxed, avocational setting through community orchestras.
As someone who has carved a fulfilling but not-so-linear path in determining how best to develop and combine diverse interests and skills in service of others while showing up as my authentic self, I am really excited about not only tutoring various subjects/skills, but also helping others think through what they are passionate about and how to pursue it! I also bring a genuine appreciation and enthusiasm for a variety of subjects that I hope to convey to my students!
I have previously taught and tutored formally for numerous standardized tests, including SAT, PSAT, ACT, GRE, and LSAT, and have also worked with middle, high school, and college students on everything from music theory and performance to math, study skills, college preparation, science, ESL, and writing/editing. While I thoroughly enjoy tutoring a wide variety of subjects, I have a particular affinity for tutoring biology, environmental policy, public health, ESL, beginner to intermediate Spanish, writing/editing, and college/graduate school essays and applications. I think that biology can be really fascinating if taught in a way that instills a sense of curiosity and of relevance to our daily lives, and I really enjoy seeing students make connections and ask important questions about how intricate biological processes relate to their broader worlds. In writing, I greatly appreciate helping students open up new avenues for communicating, be it in an academic arena through an essay, a creative arena through prose, or an entirely new community or country through mastery of a second language. I also enjoy working with students on college, graduate/professional school, and scholarship applications and seeing them go on to achieve their educational and professional goals and contribute to their chosen fields.
I feel that tutoring affords the opportunity to be part of a positive feedback cycle, instilling not only greater knowledge and mastery of a particular subject, but also enhanced confidence and enthusiasm, both for the subject matter and overall, which in turn leads to better academic performance and perpetuates increased confidence and self-efficacy. I enjoy building a rapport with students that allows us to work collectively to find ways to make any subject matter resonate with their interests and goals!