WASC Testimonials
Giancarlo Bonora
CSUDH Graduate Student, Biology
Gateway Tutor
My undergraduate degree is in Computer Science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. I was not raised here in California, but I am now a permanent resident. I spent 6 years programming and I realized I didn’t want to be a programmer my whole life. While working, I started to read science journals. I was particularly fancinated by articles pertaining to biology, which was a field that I never got to study while in college the first time around. The education in South Africa is different. There are no General Education requirements an you can just specialize in your major. At that time I had no obligation nor inclination to study biology. Later, I realized it would be nice to learn more about it. I went back to my alma mater and I took a biology course and I really loved it. It also served to make me realize that I needed more background in biology and chemistry, so I enrolled in a correspondence university in South Africa (University of South Africa). However, I didn’t get much opportunity to do lab work because my wife and I had moved to the United States in 2004. I was looking for a place to do lab work, which led me to Dominguez Hills. I had a friend who recommended Dominguez Hills highly. She got her master’s degree here and she recommended I check it out. First person I spoke to was Professor Sturm, Chair of the Chemistry Department, as I specifically wanted to attend a biochemistry lab. When she heard about my background she suggested that I do a Master’s in Biology. I ended up talking to a Dr. Roberts, Graduate Coordinator and Dr. Thomlinson, Chair in the Biology Department and they were very encouraging. They said, "Sure, you can definitely do a master's degree, but you have to do a few pre-requisites." which is what I did in fall 2006. Then I enrolled in the master's program in the spring 07. I have finished my course work and have to now complete my research project. I have been a tutor at the Center for Learning and Academic Support Services (CLASS) since the beginning of 2007.
WASC questions:
What opportunities for research have you had at CSUDH?
I have had great opportunities at Dominguez Hills in fact before I started in the master's program. I got invited to work in Dr. Robles' lab. I worked along side Shannon Kelly. That was a great opportunity of doing work in the lab and was exactly what I was looking for. They were very kind to invite me in and very encouraging. I am now doing my thesis research through Dr. H. K. Choi in his lab. That has been going really well.
What research are you doing?
I am doing research on mammary epithelial cells and the signaling pathways that lead from prolactin stimulation to milk production. We are looking at specific cell pathways within mammary cells which form mammary glands with a view to better understand the mechanisms which might help elucidate the cause of breast cancer. That was what my Student Research Day presentation was on. The full title was “The Role of Lipid Raftsin Mammary Epithelial Cells Signal Transduction”. Lipid rafts are components of the cell membrane which enclose the cell. Our hypothesis is that the lipid rafts act as concentrating platforms for receptors for signaling molecules, such as prolactin, but that the rafts only aggregate within the membrane under certain conditions.
How do you think your work as a tutor in the Center for Learning and Academic Support Services benefits you?
As I tried to express in my video presentation, it has helped me to be a better presenter as it requires explaining complex ideas in the simplest way as possible. Tutoring has certainly helped me with that. I am a shy person, so public speaking has never been my favorite pursuit. A lot of the tutoring is one-on-one, but there have been a few instances where it was group session. It has certainly helped me become a better public speaker and overcome my phobia thereof. My teaching experience has also really helped in this regard. This is another great opportunity that I have had at CSUDH that I didn’t mention on the video. I was also invited to instruct a couple of BIO 103 Lab classes. That has been a great experience. There were 24 students per class. I was apprehensive about doing that, but it has been really great. I actually feel very comfortable up there and tutoring has certainly helped in this regard. I have never done so much public speaking before this year in my entire life. Tutoring is also a great way to refresh my memory about math and science. It has to be said that it is also a very convenient and rewarding way to make some money on campus.
What is the most gratifying thing?
It has been really fascinating interacting with as many people as I have done during my tutoring. I have met so many students that I would otherwise not have had the opportunity to interact with, which has been a lot of fun. I have had a lot of experiences with people that have shown heart felt appreciation for my helping them understand something that they otherwise would have had a very hard time grasping. That is very rewarding. Generally, everybody has been very appreciative of the services provided which definitely makes tutoring a satisfying exercise. Tutoring and my experience as a BIO 103 instructor has actually been quite a revelation. I had done a bit of tutoring when I was an undergrad in computer science, but I hadn’t done it as intensely as this year and I have had a lot of fun. It leads me to believe that I would enjoy teaching in the future. If I could teach in the future it would be great. It is a chance to share this passion I developed in biology with the students and try to get them as fascinated in the field as I am. Every time I teach something it reaffirms to me how fascinating the field is.
How does it benefit the students
Hopefully, I helped them understand concepts they have had a hard time grasping, help them complete their assignments in time, and prepare for their exams and get better grades. That is the main emphasis. Help them succeed, but also help them find strategies to improve their self studies. We try to teach them how to view material, how to tackle a textbook. I like to teach what is called the Top-down Approach where you try to get the main concept and then delve into the details once you have grasped the main concept. As far as tutoring math and chemistry problems is concerned, this involves teaching strategies to tackle the problem and analyze and read a particular question and break it down, specially the word problems.
- Donna Cruz