Valerie’s main area of teaching is English, particularly writing, as well as interview skills and exam prep. She has already spent three years in Hong Kong working with students in this area prior to joining ITS. Furthermore, with her Economics and Legal Studies degree from Aberdeen, she is able to offer a much broader range of subject specialisms including economics, maths and some other humanities subjects.

 

On becoming a teacher:

I chose this path because I wanted a fulfilling job that allowed me to help people. I enjoy inspiring students and helping them succeed in their studies. Over the last three years, I have helped students get the grades they wanted, get into the schools they wanted, and built up confidence in their abilities.

I enjoy observing the different learning styles, so I can find innovative ways to help each individual student. The best outcome is when a student understands something that was initially very difficult for them to understand.

 

Other interests that reflect on my personality as a teacher:

In my spare time, I work to keep my mind and body healthy. I enjoy reading psychology and history books. I also like hiking and yoga.

 

A person I find inspirational and why:

Hard to pick. There’s so many. Recently, I have learned more about Nelson Mandela. Despite being viciously persecuted and even thrown into solitary confinement for 6 years, he never become bitter or hateful. His message was always of fairness and kindness to each other. John Keynes, a very influential economist who’s policies helped many countries achieve rapid growth and economic booms post WW2. However, modern situations have challenged his models so we cannot take his word as absolute truth. Still, his work was very important in his time and shaped the way governments build economic policies.

 

Top tip to younger self:

I would say, “Don’t worry so much. Trust the process. Everything works out like it’s supposed to.”