Hey Hut Fam,
It has been awhile since I said that! My name is Laura and I worked at the Redondo Beach Study Hut for three years after I graduated college. Not to get all emotional and cheesy, but it is kind of crazy to think that if I never worked at Study Hut, I probably would not be chasing my dreams while living in Europe today.
Like many fresh college graduates, I finished undergrad without a clear plan, which can be really intimidating when it seems like everyone around you does. I majored in History and minored in English, so I was toying between the stereotypical projected careers for those majors: do I go to law school or do I become a teacher? While debating these two options, working at Study Hut almost fell into my lap as I was recommended by a good friend who worked there. To be honest, I went into the job thinking I would only work there for a couple months, but ended up falling in love with tutoring and “Hut Life” culture, and ended up rising to second in command as the assistant manager. Study Hut’s work environment that somehow blends being laid-back with working hard was the perfect fit for my personality, and honestly that “energy” is something I have yet to find anywhere else.
Study Hut truly is a job where the more you put in, the more you get back. When I was first hired, I was cautioned that it might be difficult for me to keep a full working schedule since I could not tutor high level math and science courses, which are obviously the most requested appointments. However, after just a couple months, I became consistently one of the most booked tutors because I was able to cultivate such positive relationships with my students. The “team” dynamic you build with your students becomes something you look forward to every week, and their victories to an extent feel like yours. Over time, seeing that “Aha!” moment when you help your student finally understand a concept that has been troubling him or her for weeks becomes something you look forward to. Watching your students succeed on any level, whether it’s an A on a test or getting into their dream colleges, is a level of job satisfaction that is hard to describe if you have not personally experienced it.
After about a 18 months of tutoring, I began pursuing my teaching credential, which was surprisingly easy to balance with Study Hut’s flexible hours. To be completely honest, I used every excuse I could to delay earning my credential because I loved working at Study Hut so much and did not feel ready to settle into a permanent teaching career at a nearby high school. I also knew that Study Hut’s great relationships with local schools and my participation in tutoring AVID in the Palos Verdes school district would be extremely helpful when my permanent teaching job search began. Long story short, I got such cold feet about starting a local teaching career that I started thinking about other options…really really far away options.
With love and encouragement from my Study Hut boss/bff Justin, I chased after one of my life-long dreams to work abroad and applied to a program to teach English in Budapest, Hungary. In a matter of weeks, I landed a job teaching at one of the best high schools in Budapest and was on a one-way flight before I really had time to reconsider.
I taught in Budapest for two years and fell in love with my new life, career, and city. Along the way, I was also able to travel to places in Europe I never imagined I would be able to visit, including cities I did not even know existed. Since international moves and career changes are now apparently my thing, I recently moved to Warsaw, Poland to accept a job working in marketing for a tech company that produces fitness club management software. This new job is definitely outside of my comfort zone compared to tutoring and teaching, but I am learning so much and finding new ways to utilize the English skills I taught my former students every day. I have no idea if this is going to be my permanent career or city, but I do know that I’m happy figuring it out one day at a time as I’m making this new country my home.
In retrospect, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to finish my application to teach in Hungary if Justin had not been my cheerleader along the way. I will never forget how supportive all of Study Hut’s management team was about my decision to leave, which definitely speaks to the culture of how Study Hut treats its employees. As a tutor, Study Hut will bend over backwards to help you grow within the company, but if and when your career pivots in a new direction, you will receive the same degree of unwavering support.
Working at Study Hut gave me so much than exposing me to my love and natural talent for teaching: it taught me how to work in a collaborative environment, how to multitask between my managerial and tutoring responsibilities, and how to channel my creative side in a business setting. Even when my schedule was stacked with back-to-back appointments of ACT Tutoring and College Application writing, I still genuinely loved going to work every day. Apart from seeing work as “fun,” I developed great friendships with colleagues and students alike, many of whom I still keep in contact with all the way from Poland.
So if you’re looking for the perfect post graduate job while you figure the rest of your life out, don’t sleep on Study Hut. Also, Justin, if this whole Poland thing doesn’t work out plz give me my job back.
