01/29/2026
Hello Brookings! I decided to provide a deep dive on some details!
Let me introduce myself!
My name is Maria Erickson. I am 25 years old. I am full of fun energy, personality, and I love a good dad joke! I adore being around people, and I love getting to know unique individuals from all walks of life.
I was born and raised in Brookings, SD, and I attended Barber College in Rapid City, SD. After college, I came back to Brookings and began working as a barber.
My next adventure is this! I have set out to achieve certification through the National Tutoring Association as a tutor! One of the requirements for this certification is to have 30-50 hours of documented tutoring. Documentation requires dates, signatures, and details on sessions. Unfortunately, my past tutoring experience was long enough ago that I no longer have these details. Therefore, for this purpose as well as simply to gain experience, I have set out to find some tutoring work! I will be tutoring while getting my Associate's in Health Sciences and completing webinars for the National Tutor Association.
Why tutoring?
While I adore my job as a barber and plan to enjoy my career as long as possible, due to health reasons, I am looking to expand my options and slowly integrate another career part-time over the next few years. I have always had a love for learning and helping others learn. For quite a while now, I have taught piano on the side to mostly young kids as well as a couple of adults. I also tutored in college. Through this, I found a true passion for helping people of all ages unlock their full potential. I believe everyone can learn; sometimes, it simply takes a classic one-on-one, learning-style approach to succeed. I know that for me, a tutor made all the difference in how I understood and retained my studies in high school.
My experience:
In college, I tutored two students directly and multiple others in a group setting on subjects such as Anatomy, Chemistry, Electricity, Dermatology, and other practical subjects in Barber College. I primarily worked with our two bilingual students and students who had less personal time to deeply study material. I had fun working with them to help better understand scientific terms, utilize the curriculum, retain information through repetition and association, and unleash their full learning potential. Alongside our theory instructor, I was able to help set up, create, and run different games, such as “Barber Jeopardy” and “Classmate Feud,” a fun twist on Family Feud, to help students with retention and testing. I was chosen to rough draft a format for the barber haircutting methods curriculum and grade assignments for other students. Another privilege of mine was assisting our instructor with certain topics of learning in class, such as electricity, and teaching incoming students how to set up and maintain their equipment as well as assisting the instructors in teaching foundational techniques to beginner and intermediate students. Finally, I assisted 5-7 students in studying for the state exams through practice exam websites and good old-fashioned studying.
A unique experience in barber college:
During one week of class, every student was required to learn about and teach a “class” on a topic of their choice for 5-15 minutes. This was called “Each One Teach One.” I have always had a fascination with psychology and chose to give a 10-minute class on “ASPD, NPD, Their Traits, Diagnosis, Comparisons, and More.” This was a rewarding experience for me as I love public speaking, and I was able to present a unique and complicated topic in a simple, easy-to-understand way.
Why choose me?
I may not be certified yet; however, I have the drive, passion for these science topics, patience, and ability to connect with different people. My job as a barber has offered me unique experiences interacting with people of all ages. I have a very flexible schedule since I make my own hours. And due to my current lack of certification, I will be offering my services at a low cost!
Costs:
The cost will differ based on the subject, age of the student, time, and how in-depth the material is. Some students only need tutoring for one chapter or one topic; some need tutoring for the full semester. Older students have more in-depth material; younger students have less material and less time needed.
Generally, costs will start at $15 an hour for tutoring and $10 for a half-hour of piano teaching.
I am excited to meet some great minds and help accelerate their learning potential!
Email me at [email protected] or message me on messenger to sign up!
