Meet Justin!

Justin has been working with The Sunshine Method for a year and is making a real difference in the lives of all his students. He is passionate about taking care of and helping others, especially his students. Justin believes that it is important to help children establish achievable goals and help them achieve milestones through mentoring and compassion. 

Join the conversation below:

Hi Justin, let's with you sharing a little bit about yourself!

Hello! I've been with The Sunshine Method for about a year already. For my main job, I manage the cafe at the Brooklyn Museum. And one fun fact about me is that I like video games!

What motivates you to tutor children in your community? 

A part of who I am is that I like to take care of and help people. It's what I do for my own job at the museum. I take care of everyone there and they know that. Even with my own community here, it's like I'm everyone's friend. I'm here to help everyone. With this job, it's another way of expressing myself in that outlet to help kids who need help as well.  

You actually get to see them progress over time and it's a reward. It gives me fulfillment and I get to give back something. I know it means a lot to not just the kids, but the parents. I'm making a change. 

Can you describe the most memorable experience you've had working with a child? What do you believe made it so successful? 

Let's see the longest child I've had was Adam*. I remember because he had to repeat the third grade. He was very shy at first with the sessions. I think I was with him for most of this time. Towards the end, he was more outgoing. He was more willing to talk to me about not just the work that he does in school, but what he likes and gives me tours of his house and his pets. It's like I've become a part of his life. That was the major thing. I've made that much of a difference to the point where it's like, even though I'm tutoring him, I'm also his friend.  

*Real name has been modified 

We love to hear that you are making a difference! What role do you believe education plays in a child's life? 

Education is a lot. It's shapes how they're going to be when they grow up. I'm always telling [my students], “You're going to need this again in the future.” It might be silly, like, “Oh, am I going to need multiplication? Am I going to need addition and stuff like that?” Yes, you are. I always say that. One day you're going to be an adult, and all of this is going to come back to you and you're going to say, “I'm glad I learned this then. I'm glad I really understood this back then, because I needed this.” 

What advice would you give a child that is struggling or having difficulty with a subject? 

Always, number one, be patient. Nothing is ever going to come through if you try to rush anything or get frustrated or anxious. Adults get anxiety. So do kids, and it might even be more so. Have patience with it. It's not a race. It's not the end of the world if you don't get a specific grade. Just try and take your own time. Understand what it is that you need to do to get to the next step and take that time to make your progress. You'll get there eventually, and once you've hit that milestone, you'll be like, “Yes, I did it!” And now you're able to move on to the next, because that's what life is. It's all about milestones and goals. 

What advice would you give to other Sunshine Method tutors? 

It's a rewarding job. You'll start off little by little. “OK, I'll take on one or two kids for a while”, and then you'll become like me, where right now, I have up to six active students.  

I’m becoming better at this. It gives you everything you need for yourself, and you'll feel amazing about it after the fact, like “I've accomplished something great for myself and for other people.” That comes from the heart. 

Do you have any tips or strategies when you're working with a child, either online or in person to help keep them engaged? 

Well, I've been doing online tutoring, so in order to keep them engaged, have what you want in mind for the lesson before you go into it. Always have an aim, a purpose, or a goal. Odds are you're going to be with the kid for an hour to maybe an hour and a half. If it's a long session you’ll do up to two hours. You have to know going into it, “How am I going to plan this?” 

Some people might want to do a lesson plan, or have a topic. In case the child might steer off, you could always have a little conversation like, “How was this? Was this comfortable for you?” Or you might even jump into what they are doing for homework today, then do a few questions on that and circle back to what you were doing before. 

It's all about how you can steer the lessons. 

Those are great tips! What are your hopes for your students in the future? 

I always tell them to dream big and to see a future that they truly want. A lot of them tell me they want to be social media stars or game directors. Those are the fads. I'm like, “What do you realistically want to do?” Sometimes they say, “Oh, instead I want to actually be a teacher” or “I want to do a job like my mom or dad.” And I said, “Well, you have something achievable in your mind. You have something that you can actually see yourself doing one day.  

It's like, “Oh, I actually want to go to college.” That's good [they] see that from now because not many people actually see that. They get trapped in a cycle, even from young. If you can open up that door for a kid so that they can see a light, then they're going to travel towards it. 

Thank you for reading, and thank you, Justin, for your contributions and impact on this generation!