Nini L.

April 3, 2020

UC Berkeley
A Tiny Stick of Dynamite That Will Rock Your World

honestly, i don’t even know where to start. i guess i should start way before i even met christine, when my parents first told me we were going to meet a college advisor that was recommended to them. immediately, the first thing i thought of was an old man who had graduated from college 40 years ago who would try to convince me that his “old and proven” method would work. i was kind of surprised when i first saw christine, not the old man i had thought i would be meeting. the week before, i had been dreading the meeting because i was already overwhelmed with the thought of preparing for college, but within 10 minutes of meeting her and hearing christine talk about the process, i actually found myself looking forward to getting started. i guess it was the way that she talked in a “i’m not taking any bullshit” manner and got right to the point, or her sense of humor, but it felt like something clicked when i met her. christine was unlike any of the tutors or advisors i had met before because she actually took time to understand her students on a personal level and really know their situation and working with it, instead of giving a generic cut and paste template for college essays that she gave all her students. i didn’t have to pretend like i was someone that i wasn’t because i felt so comfortable with her, which helped a lot with starting my college essays; apart from being an incredibly genuine person herself, i could also be genuine without being scared of getting judged. christine is one of the most perceptive and dependable people i’ve ever met and some of the lessons i’ve learned with her have quite literally changed my view of the world. she’s done so much for me in the process, from giving admissions advice, to helping me brainstorm my essays, to editing those essays (sometimes when i need them very last minute), to helping me prepare for interviews- the list just goes on and on. she would do everything she could to fit my needs in her busy schedule, in addition to being so dependable. and at the end of it all, my relationship with christine didn’t really feel like your typical tutor-student dynamic; it was more like i had gained a very wise mentor and friend that i could rely on to help me just get through life. 

i’ve said this before, but i’ll say it again;  thanks for being a real g :)

(admission into RISD, USC, SCI-Arc, ACCD, UCSD)