At Zinc, we know that fear-based education and fear-based living get lousy results. Love not only gets better traction when it comes to test prep — and anything else we want to achieve — but it’s the foundational competency for making one’s way in the world.
But without effort, the love that sparks learning has no purchase on life. Our ability to connect those two core competencies — to harness love to effort — makes all the difference for our effectiveness, success, and personal satisfaction.
Of course we expect that test prep will require effort, but without love, that effort too often feels like a meaningless grind. Fear-based learning environments tap into our desire to live up to expectations and please others. But love-based effort develops self-knowledge and the capacities to turn our interests into positive outcomes.
Success — even great success — without effort is a sugar rush that obscures the nourishing fulfillment of a hard-earned reward. Sure, we’re all lazy; we love passive amusements and crave quick solutions. Yet we also love to work hard. Our hearts, brains, and bodies are still built for exertion. In fact, they thrive on it.
The easier technology makes our lives, not to mention flooding them with distracting entertainments, the more consciously we need to cultivate effort. When we choose them for ourselves, small disciplines grow our capacity for work. Consistently doing something mentally or physically demanding whether or not we excel at it — preferably not! — grounds us and empowers us. There’s nothing wrong with running the extra laps to impress the coach, but when we run them out of a desire for our own growth we come to know, trust, and respect ourselves.
Zinc is L.E.A.R.N. Love, Effort, Attention, Reading, and Numbers. We help students achieve standout scores and create great applications. Send us an email to get started.
Claire Dunnington Boot Camp teacher Claire has been tutoring with Zinc since 2010 and is now a mentor to new tutors. She graduated from Brown University with honors in English and creative writing and was named to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior. After teaching English in Thailand for a year, she moved to New […]
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Henry Dickmeyer Zinc tutor Henry Dickmeyer graduated as an economics major from Occidental College in 2015 with minors in mathematics and psychology. Having grown up in Seattle and gone to Los Angeles for college, he moved across the continent to obtain a Master’s Degree in the Teaching of Social Studies in 2016 at Teachers College, […]
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Destry Sibley Zinc tutor and Boot Camp teacher Destry was born and raised in Portland, Maine. She has a BA from Amherst College and an MA in digital media and narrative nonfiction from the City University of New York. She has experience teaching students of all ages, from kindergarten to college, and previously served as […]
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