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TVT Alumni Spotlight on Sarina Shohet
Sarina Shohet graduated from TVT in 2016, and went on to graduate from UC Berkeley this past Spring. She is now the Founder and CEO at Pando Tutors.
College Attended - UC Berkeley Class of 2020
Current Job - Founder and CEO at Pando Tutors
Favorite memory from TVT - Too hard to pick!! One thing that stands out though, was just going to watch the improv club! A group of boys in my grade took over the Town Hall at lunches once a week and filled it with so much laughter, and TVT is so small that there were so many inside jokes and relatable bits. The whole school packed in to watch them, and it was only their practice!
What have you been doing since leaving TVT?
During the Covid Pandemic, I founded Pando Tutors. Pando was actually the product of a conversation I had with my professor about her kids and their needs for this upcoming year. She mentioned her hesitation to hire them a tutor, knowing she would be contributing to inequalities that once bad, are becoming so much worse during the pandemic. Education is supposed to be an equal-access public good, but it hasn't worked out that way. We've seen the quality of education deteriorate on lines of race, class, geography, and more. Having just finished my minor in public policy, I know this problem all too well. I also, however, knew a ton of friends and peers sitting home unemployed just like myself. Realizing that I could solve one problem with another, I immediately got some friends together and started recruiting clients. The idea is that unemployed individuals offer their skills as tutors to students of all income brackets. We're operating right now on a pay-what-you-can basis because we want everyone to know that this is for them, no matter who they are or how much they can pay. For those who can pay, we charge $50 per one-on-one session. Then we use profits from those clients combined with donations in order to provide tutoring pro-bono whenever needed. Now we're applying for our 501(c)(3) and we have a whole cohort of recent grads helping to run the company, brainstorm creative solutions to problems of educational access, and make tutoring affordable. Not to mention our brilliant tutors ready to teach a range of subjects from advanced math to music theory, from common core history to college prep. We're excited to grow and make a difference in the opportunities available to students!
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Proudest accomplishment since leaving TVT - As if I can ever accomplish anything greater than to have my lion painting featured all over the TVT! Other than that, I think I'm proud to have been able to create community everywhere I go. It's not the kind of thing you receive an award for, but the people themselves are prize enough.
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TVT Community Day School is a TK-12 Independent Community Day School in Irvine, CA
