Sam Lawrence

I’m a lifelong systems thinker. Since my childhood in rural Vermont, I’ve been enraptured by the way math and science give us the tools to describe and understand our world at the most fundamental level. In high school, I developed a passion for using the tools of Chemistry to explain my surroundings, both to myself and to others. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I put that passion into practice with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Mathematics. The culture of STEM academia often puts a strong emphasis on individual achievement–papers, papers, papers!–but my award-winning honors research thesis proved to me that there’s more to science than the work done in a lab. A breakthrough is meaningless if there’s no one to learn from it; the joy of discovery is not just for the discoverer. After graduating, I worked at the University of Vermont teaching general chemistry laboratory courses. For students coming from a two-hundred-seat lecture, I was their most immediate resource. It fell to me to support their learning in and out of the lab, and I found that there was nothing more rewarding than finding just the right way to help a difficult concept finally ‘click.’ That “right way” is different for every learner, and can only be found once the instructor really appreciates where their pupil is coming from. I believe building a meaningful relationship between student and teacher is the most important step in the educational process. As a Chemistry, Calculus, and SAT tutor at TestTakers, my goal is to share my passion for fundamental truths with my students, to make them feel seen in their unique experiences and perspectives, and to make seemingly abstract ideas feel lively, personal, and accessible. In my free time, I love to read, listen to dance music, and play games with friends (ask me about Magic: The Gathering!).