“Gateway really connects the tutor to the specific teaching style of the instructor. The tutors are right there in the class, so they know exactly what the instructor wants. And that is so much better for students.”
Lauren Sittel, coordinator of Gateway to Success at Santa Barbara City College.
Student Profiles
Patrick Coombs
The first class Patrick Coombs took at City College was a personal development course. It wasn’t an obvious choice, but an advisor persuaded him that developing life skills and study skills, like time management, was a smart start to college. “It was the best choice I could have made,” he said.
As a Gateway tutor he discovered that he loves teaching. The tutoring model, he said, is especially effective. “Instructors might be 20 or 30 years older than students. But tutors, their like a bridge in between.”
He is planning to transfer to a four-year college, perhaps UC Berkeley or UC Santa Barbara. His tutoring experience at City College has make him think about being a teacher, or perhaps a professor.
