“During my favorite seminar, ‘Our Growing Immunity to Violence,’ we discussed how events in the world today and how our expanding access to media is normalizing violence. It was interesting to learn about how people’s perception of the United States differed from my own.”
I created an organization called Free Tutoring Online or “FTO” with the purpose of providing free peer tutoring to students in underserved communities who need help with their homework. I launched the site just before I left for YYGS. I came up with the idea because lots of my friends attended schools with community service requirements and were interested in a non traditional way to fulfill this requirement. I live in Chicago and there are many underserved communities where students do not have access to tutoring or anyone to help them with their homework. So, based on these two observations, I created FTO, which allows student to fulfill their service requirements by helping other students with their homework- all without leaving their house. I am in the process of creating partnerships with community centers and youth shelters to help connect the volunteer tutors with students who need help. I served as an intern in Thailand over the summer for Loop Abroad. Loop Abroad offers travel programs for teens and college students all over the world. The position was unpaid, but I was given the opportunity to talk to students about FTO and I have 23 students creating FTO clubs at their school to sign up volunteer tutors.