That’s why Andrés Nandho feels he is studying at the perfect institution: San Diego State University.
According to the U.S. News & World Report's 2016 ratings of Schools of Education, SDSU's College of Education is number one in San Diego County and among all California State Universities. Through the College of Education about 250 to 300 students earn teacher credentials every year and go on to teach in their communities.
“I decided to attend SDSU because of its warm and friendly atmosphere,” said Nandho, an astronomy major at SDSU. “The experience has been amazing.”
To get his future career started, Nandho is tutoring math at a local high school and already has a foot in the door of SDSU’s College of Education, which encourages students from any major to become teachers and welcomes all students to further their educational goals at the COE.
Nandho currently tutors 16 hours per week at Hoover High School, one of about a dozen schools in the San Diego Unified and Sweetwater school districts where the Pathways Office at SDSU places tutors. This semester, there are 95 tutors working at local schools and teaching in multiple languages including: Spanish, Arabic, Somali, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Farsi.
“I love tutoring and enjoy it very much,” said Nandho, an SDSU junior from Lake Elsinore, who was born in Hidalgo, Mexico and is the first in his family to go to a four-year college. “It is a rewarding and fulfilling experience.”
A partnership with the College of Education and College of Sciences, the Pathways Office was established in 2007 to promote careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Pathways is part of the Pre-College Institute, which promotes college access and completion for students in underserved communities.
“We place 75-100 tutors in schools where the population is typically low-income and culturally diverse,” said Erika Espinosa Araiza, administrative support coordinator at the Pre-College Institute and Pathways Office. “In many cases, the students we serve are the first in their family to go to college. In the classroom tutors support academic learning, act as role models and assist students facing substantial barriers in higher education.”
After tutoring with Pathways, Espinosa Araiza said, many of the tutors typically decide to pursue careers in education, just like Nandho Marcos.
“Andrés is an amazing tutor! Every time he steps into Hoover High School he is excited to be there and his students feel that,” Espinosa Araiza said. “Andrés brings his best effort every time he tutors, he believes in his students and that leads to them believing in themselves. He is an amazing role model, tutor and person.”