Student Spotlight: Nick Lotierzo

Tutoring can get you a job. Ask Nick Lotierzo, a recent computer science graduate from Rowan.  Lotierzo was a longtime drop-in tutor for the department, and his experience helping fellow students helped him land a full time job.

Lotierzo began his tutoring career in the fall of 2023. Initially, Lotierzo was just looking for a job, but he grew to love tutoring because he delighted in helping others. “I get a great deal of satisfaction from helping other people… seeing the light bulb go on, of ‘Oh my gosh, I understand this thing that I didn't understand previously,’ because the way you explained it resonated,” Lotierzo said. “I also like to see these people progress in the same way I would assume a professor or teacher does,” he continued.

To tutor, Lotierzo first tried to get a basis of how comfortable the tutee is with coding. He then asked them to explain what issue they're coming to him with, and the larger homework or project they’re working on. If a student had trouble explaining the larger project, Lotierzo went over the whole work with them, before he moved on to their initial question. “If they seem to not be up to speed, I bring them up to speed,” said Lotierzo. Lotierzo made frequent use of whiteboard or hand gestures to better stick concepts into a tutee’s head.  “Hearing and seeing someone say something makes someone remember that something more,” said Lotierzo. While tutoring, Lotierzo bounced ideas and concepts off other tutors in the room, allowing anyone to be a part of the discussion, encouraging multiple voices solving problems. “I tried to make it a good environment for both the students in there and the other tutors,” said Lotierzo.

As a tutor, Lotierzo accomplished much within the department. By committing his time to drop-in tutoring, he established himself as a consistent presence in the tutoring room. His dedication to tutoring during his undergrad years earned him a spot on the team again as the department’s first graduate tutor. “Since I’m a grad student, I take less classes… So I asked for as many working hours as I could get,” says Lotierzo. “The results of that become all the tutors know [sic] me, students come especially for me, and I kind of link everyone together in that way,” he continued. 

While Lotierzo has graduated, the skills he learned in the tutoring room helped him land a job in the real world. While interviewing for a position at Edmund’s GovTech, the interviewee asked if he was comfortable mentoring new hires, in reference to a section on Lotierzo’s resume that listed his tutoring experience. “I said of course, I do that as a job right now!” Tutoring has helped Lotierzo in other ways, not just in the job market.  “[Tutoring] has helped me in general with social skills– not to say I was inept in that regard before, but it has helped me in talking with people from all over, regardless of how much schooling they have or how much comfort they have with the computer. Just people from all different backgrounds, types of speech. Been very helpful for me,” Lotierzo said. 

Tutoring was an extremely valuable experience for Lotierzo. We at the department wish him well on his next journey! If anyone would like to become a drop in tutor themselves, reach out to Brenda Harkins for more information.