Today, we’re sharing the story of Sonia, a volunteer tutor who joined The Access Project in 2021.
Sonia is one of more than 1,000 volunteers at The Access Project, working to transform the lives of under-resourced young people. She volunteers for one hour per week, tutoring A level History.
Sonia is a third year History student at Queen Mary, University of London. She saw volunteer tutoring as an opportunity to share her love of history whilst giving back to a good cause.
“Previously, I volunteered with the UNHCR and I really enjoyed that experience”, Sonia told us. “When I moved to London to study history at undergrad, I really wanted to make sure I could spread my love for history with students once again”.
“It has been a wonderful experience”
Sonia is an aspiring teacher. She’s using her time volunteering to prepare for her future career, developing her teaching and communication skills while she helps young people succeed.
She said: “I do plan to go on to the teaching profession hopefully some day. The skills that you garner from all of these experiences from The Access Project are really useful at university and life beyond”.
But it’s more than just skill-building for Sonia. She feels an immense sense of reward through her tutoring. She said: “The best part about volunteering is seeing students excel in a subject they didn’t think they could excel in like history, and for them now to go on to either do history at A level or wanting to pursue history at undergrad really warms my heart”.
Volunteers like Sonia are integral to the success of The Access Project. With Sonia’s help, we’re achieving our mission to fight education inequality and increase young peoples’ chances of placing at a top university.
Young people are twice as likely to attend top universities after studying with The Access Project. One hour of volunteer tutoring per week can put a student from an under-resourced background on track to a good education, giving them the best chance at social mobility.