My Personal Testimony (by Danielle Rittman)

 

I was an average student from grades K through 10. In fact, I almost failed the 6th grade.  I did not have a tutor or anyone to point me in the right direction. To be honest, I hated feeling like I was nothing but average.  I knew that there was greatness in me, but I had no idea how to get it out.  Let me further say that it really stunk to feel so dumb while simultaneously longing to be a successful business woman.

 

In the 11th grade, my family moved into a different school district, and suddenly the cobwebs cleared and I soared.  The uptick in my grades enabled me to be accepted to Hampton University on a conditional basis.  In my freshman year, I became a President's Scholar. However, my academic struggles weren't over.  It wasn't until I enrolled at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and became acquainted with my first academic love, accounting, that I left average behind me.  In fact, it blew my mind when my accounting professor recommended me for a paid tutoring position at Reynolds.  I was hired to tutor in accounting, math, and chemistry. 

 

After graduating from Reynolds with highest honor, I transferred to Temple University.  I graduated summa cum laude from Temple with a degree in accounting, and gained employment as an auditor with the third largest accounting firm in the world.  Two years later, I accomplished my career goal of becoming a Certified Public Accountant; and several years later, I got married and gave birth to a handsome boy, MJ (the fencing king).

 

I thought that I knew what love looked and felt like until I held my son.  Work became that thing keeping me from my boy. In 2008, I decided to leave my lucrative job with the Federal Reserve Bank to home school MJ. I taught him to read at the age of three and how to spell words using sign language. My son is now 11 years old and preparing to take the PSAT in October.  Yes, he is a 10th grader, and I am still his Learning Coach. 

 

Sometimes just sitting across from a person who has your back no matter what is enough to unlock a student's potential. I've tutored individuals from three to eighty years old, and I have learned that students young and old need one-on-one attention in the form of coaching and mentoring whether or not they are encountering hiccups in their learning process.  Of course, every student is uniquely brilliant and worthy to receive all of the resources in heaven and earth for their personal edification and the advancement of humanity.  So, I just wanted you to know that my personal testimony is also my personal commitment to empower your child and all of my students to become the greatest expression of themselves.