By Quentin Monasterial
Courier Columnist/Reporter
James Logan’s Bridge Club is a club that offers tutoring services to those in need and want of them.
Tiger Zhong, both the founder and president of the club, says that this club is aimed primarily towards ESL, otherwise known as students whose first language is not English.
Zhong says that this club has three main goals. The first is to “academically help the ESL [students], as a way to give back to the community, since [he] was an ESL [student] too.” The second is to “create a sense of family for the immigrant and ESL students, because…[he] definitely felt isolated from the Logan [community].” The third and final goal is to “bring awareness to the ESL minority.”
A typical day at Bridge Club includes tutoring in classwork and homework, but additional outside teaching is also featured. Tutors also have members catch up on mainstream English when they have extra time.
Zhong says that the club has around 30 members, during its peak in activity. This means that the number of members fluctuates throughout the year, with certain times of the year, like finals, having the most membership.
According to Zhong, memberships decline when people’s “grades become stable.” There is little incentive to attend, so they stop coming.
When asked about the setbacks this club as faced (such as the fluctuating attendance), Zhong reveals that these setbacks were most abundant in the beginning. In response, he took advantage of the opportunity to speak to English teachers at monthly department meetings. From this point forward, the club gained more publicity, and, inevitably, he saw an increase in club membership.
But he didn’t stop there. Zhong says, “at one point, I had to talk to each individual ESL student about their academics and…about the club. During that period, I didn’t go to a bunch of classes and didn’t have time for lunch.”
This sacrifice didn’t go unrewarded. He says, “the club got big after these efforts.”
It is obvious that this club is more than a mere club; it is a product of inspiration, hard work and passion. It is a refuge for those who struggle academically and those non-native English speakers who aren’t 100% comfortable with it. Based on all the efforts that Zhong has poured into this club, being apart of the experience seems well worth it.
