Cambly Tutor Experience

As a child, there were three types of places that I wanted to work: a theme park, a zoo, and a bookstore. I’ve already checked-off the first two on the list. I spent fifteen years at Universal Studios Hollywood, and during my twenties, I was part of the Behavioral Research Department at the Greater Los Angeles Zoo.

Now, starting tomorrow, I will be the newest employee at The Tattered Cover Book Store here in Littleton. The Tattered Cover is a wonderful Colorado company that has a chain of independent bookstores. I’m thrilled to be around books and book lovers. I imagine it will give me invaluable insight as I work towards my goal of revising my novel and finding an agent.

However, I can’t begin my new job, without reflecting on the past three years that I’ve spent as an independent contractor for the San Francisco based ESL tutoring company, Cambly.

Cambly came into my life when things were uncertain. We lived in a rural mountain community and we were traveling a lot, frequently hitting the road on the spur of the moment. I needed to earn money, but I needed the flexibility. My husband’s best friend suggested it to me and I applied. Two days later, I was hired and starting my first session, which is similar to a zoom meeting, but through Cambly’s site.

The idea behind Cambly is simple enough, you just show up and help people improve their conversational English. Beyond being a native English speaker, no real skills are needed. However, I found this to be somewhat untrue, as my writing background certainly helped me both tutor and retain students. Sometimes students want help with specific grammar issues or they have complicated questions.

I found myself really diving deep and considering why certain things are the way they are in the English language. I learned more about my native language through helping others. I was also in awe of the learning process and dedication that many of my students showed, often waking up before sunrise to learn English, so they would have time before work and kids gobbled up their day. People are out there achieving major goals and it is inspiring.

After a few months, I was established enough to have a roster of regulars and my schedule became fixed, Mon-Fri, 9am-12pm and 2pm-5pm. I found that my schedule filled almost immediately after I released new time slots. I must “not-so-humbly” brag that I was a popular tutor.

The best part about Cambly is the students. I met amazing people from all over the world. I met doctors, engineers, CEO’s, pilots, architects, lawyers, university students….the list goes on. My youngest student was four and my oldest was in their mid-80’s. I met people who needed English for their careers and those who simply had a love for learning. I met people all over the political and ideological spectrum, and was able to engage in productive, respectful conversations, a truly fascinating and fortunate opportunity as we live in such a divided world.

My stats on Cambly state that I met 1787 different students. I’m not sure how many countries I met people from, but the countries I met the most students from were: Brazil, Turkey, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. My life is certainly enriched from having met these students. I know more about world history, world politics, and geography than I did previous to Cambly. I also have added many places to my travel bucket list. Cambly does not allow tutors to share private information ( I even went by my mom’s middle name- Zora, to protect my identity), but luckily they leave the messaging system active, so when I do travel to these countries, I can contact my former students…my friends.

The worst part of Cambly was the pay. It’s low and per minute of talk, which means when there is a cancelation, there is no pay. There are no other benefits, such as sick pay or medical. The benefits are flexibility and the personal rewards that come from meeting and helping others.

Here is the profile picture I used for Cambly. I was trying to capture the “I’m a fun tutor vibe,” which seemed to work! I’m leaving the site with a 4.97 rating, which is high, and many of my students wrote very kind messages when I told them I was leaving.

I will certainly miss my students and the flexibility, but it was time to move on to the next opportunity. Luckily, my Cambly account will be still be active, so if I decide to return, I can, at any time. I’m not sure what the future holds, especially with pandemic uncertainty, but if I return to Cambly in the future, I know it will be with a happy heart to reconnect with my students from around the world. My life is better because of my time working for Cambly.

Give Blood!

About three weeks ago, my friend’s daughter, a kid whom I love very much, had a major spinal operation. Even though her father donate blood to be used in the operation, it wasn’t enough, and she needed many pints more than expected.

I was feeling far away and helpless. Everyone feels helpless to know someone they love is in pain, but I just felt extra since they are in California and i’m in Colorado. I couldn’t easily be there to drop off food or just help in any way they might need it. The blood issue stuck in my mind and I started to look up donating blood.

I’m ashamed to confess it, but I had not previously given blood. I was ( still am a bit) very nervous around needles and I was scared. I didn’t even donate when I worked at Universal Studios and had Dracula sneak up behind me and tell me that he wanted my blood and would give me a free pint of Ben and Jerry’s- a pint for a pint! The tie is was fabulous.

In any case, I went to our local blog bank site, a company called Vitalant and registered. I learned that only 3% of eligible people donate and that only 38% of the population is eligible. For example, my husband can’t donate in the US, because of he lived in England during a certain time frame. There is an urgent need for blood and those of us who can give, are not doing it.

To further simplify the process, I learned that my community, Sterling Ranch, was holding an upcoming blood drive. It couldn’t have been easier.

A few hours prior to my lunch time donation, I filled out a ten minute health survey. This must be done on the same day and it streamlines the process when you arrive to donate. I arrived fifteen minutes early and they took me immediately.

I didn’t know my blood type, but it only took a few minutes to find out. The nurse poked one of my fingers to get a few drops of blood- one quick prick, virtually painless. On a special piece of board she smeared drops of my blood to see if they would react with the chemicals, similar to a PH strip, I think. The section where my blood coagulated, would reveal my blood type.

I was an A negative, which is a rarer blood type. I was asked to switch my donation from whole blood to a “Power Red” or apheresis donation. If you have A Negative blood, this is more useful than a whole blood donation. It takes about ten-fifteen minutes longer, as a machine separates the red cells, and gives the doner back their platelets/plasma/white cells.

I agreed, but there were a few contingencies to make this happen. First, my iron count had to be high. Iron is tested prior to every donation and is done with the same finger prick that they used to blood type me. I was good to go.

My temperature was taken =good.

My blood pressure was taken = fail.

I had to sit calmly for a second blood pressure test, which I passed, barely. The nurses are only allowed to take it twice, and if you fail two times, you can’t donate on that day. However, this was a good reminder that my blood pressure has been running high for the past two years, and I need to start getting it under control before true health problems arise. Through my donation, I also got a read on my cholesterol levels, which were borderline high.

I moved over to the donation chair, where a hilarious nurse named Walt helped me out. He kept me laughing and walked me through the process. I would go through a cycle three times of blood going out and the platelets/plasma/white cells, going back into my body. When the blood was pumping out, I was to squeeze and release a squidgy ball, and when things were coming in, relax. When everything came back into my body, I felt slightly cold and had a slight tingling sensation in my mouth. Nothing hurt or was too unpleasant.

Here is the machine that separated the blood.

The actual donation took about thirty minutes and I felt fine after. I had none of the dizziness or light-headless that I was anticipating. There were cookies, juice, and other snacks for anyone who needed to replenish and we were encouraged to take it easy as our bodies were adjusting.

I can make a power-red donation up to three times a year, so I am just going to add this to my schedule. It was easy, virtually painless, and took less than an hour.

If you are eligible to donate, I encourage you to make an appointment asap. It’s a way that a person can actually impact someone else’s life, perhaps save a life.

Book Review: Deborah Copaken's Ladyparts

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of Deborah Copaken’s memoir, Ladyparts, in exchange for an honest review.

Writer and photojournalist Deborah Copaken’s Ladyparts, begins over a decade after her first memoir, Shutterbabe, which detailed her early career as a war photographer in Afghanistan. In Ladyparts, Copaken chronicles her separation from her husband, Paul Kogan, and the subsequent stress, health, and financial issues that followed.

I can’t remember the last time that I read a memoir that made me feel every single emotion. All of the feels. Mostly, I felt anxiety and rage towards Copaken’s struggles. To be clear, Copaken is not seeking pity, but Ladyparts serves to shed a light on the inequalities in our society, especially those that women face.

When she sought divorce from her husband, she was left with the bills and childcare, while he restarted his life in California. This situation, along with job loss and health problems, such as a cancer diagnosis, caused extreme instability in Copaken’s life. She saw her savings dwindle to the point where she had to put off having critical surgeries or even reconsider taking not just an ambulance, but a cab, to the hospital during a health emergency. Copaken offers many statistics that show not only a severely flawed US health system, but specifically where the health system fails women. It made my blood boil.

She gives startling examples of how women’s health is simply not given research funds, and how many gynecologist are not trained to help post menopausal women. It’s terrifying and makes me livid. I have a family history of gynecological cancers in my family, and now I am the same age as both my mom and aunt when they had endometrial cancer. I’m constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. I felt very triggered and anxious when reading these sections of Ladyparts, especially as I’ve also been in Copaken’s position of not having health insurance. It’s terrifying and I don’t take it for granted now that I have it.

Copaken is so brave and honest. She gives a raw account of her medical situation, including a very graphic retelling of massive blood clots that expelled from her body after a complication from surgery. A complication that she was never briefed could happen, therefore making it even more serious and scary. At one point, she is explaining this at a dinner party and a friend cautions her to keep the details private, as it is not proper. Copaken refuses to be silent or tone down her story. I want to commend and thank her for sharing the details. It is important for women to be heard, especially in situations like these, where her story could help save lives.

My anxiety peaked when Copaken detailed her various problems at different companies. It was a reminder that freelancing (which I’m currently doing) is uncertain, and that the changes in technology and work culture have devalued the contributions of writers. Also, the idea that being middle-aged can be viewed as a liability or another reason to be devalued, made me feel ill. I worked for the same company for nearly fifteen years and it took me a long time to realize that there is little loyalty and no such thing as job security. I was raised by a mom who essentially worked for the same company her entire career and preached the gospel of finding a place and staying loyal, but that is simply not the way the world works now and Copaken’s experiences highlight this new way of doing things.

The #Metoo movement looms large in the last chapters of Ladyparts, as Copaken’s private life goes viral when she outs Ken Kurson, a major editor and friend of Donald Trump, for harassment, stalking, and derailing her career. The details are shocking, but ultimately this story breaking is a huge win.

Speaking of wins, one of the most poignant and beautiful moments comes towards the end, when Copaken encourages her son to “break the rules” and join her on their apartment rooftop to view Fourth of July fireworks bursting over the New York skyline. It’s an intimate moment between a mother and her son. Copaken reflects on time and makes an affecting comment on how our bodies are borrowed, and how we don’t know how much time we have in them, so we should live to the fullest. This resonated with me.

Ladyparts might be one of the most important, perspective changing writing that I have ever encountered. It certainly wasn’t an easy read, as I had to brace myself for the emotions every time I picked it up, but I absolutely recommend it to everyone. Copaken writes without mercy and is a force. Also, Copaken’s friendship and advice from Nora Ephron is fantastic.