My name is Xavier Nunez-Sundara. I’m currently a college student based in Southern California. In between my life as a student, I work as an AVID tutor and a lab technician.

When I’m not working, I like to spend time with my family, whether it is watching TV, enjoying a meal, or doing my own thing while they’re in the same room (‘doing my own thing’ = reading, writing, or practicing some other skill — I’m always seeking to improve my knowledge of the world around me).

Qualifications as a Tutor

• Formal
  • Did 10 hours as an NHS peer tutor in Chemistry and mathematics
• Informal
  • Regularly helped friends prepare for exams in subjects like
    • Chemistry
    • Precalculus
    • Algebra II
    • Human Geography
    • European History
  • Regularly tutored people seeking extra help in math during lunch

Academic Accomplishments

• Graduated High School Class of 2022
• Gained 48 units of college credit through AP/IB courses, starting his first year in college as a second semester Sophomore
• AP Scores
  • AP Human Geography (2019): 5
  • AP European History (2020): 5
  • AP US History (2021): 5
  • AP English Language and Composition (2021): 4
  • AP Chemistry (2022): 5
  • AP Microeconomics (2022): 5
  • AP Macroeconomics (2022): 5
• University Honors Student

Ideas I believe

I’m going to be honest. A lot of this website was inspired by the design of Thomas J. Frank’s website, which you can visit here. One thing that I liked about his “About Me” page was a list of ideas that he lived by, so you could get to know him better. Well, I want something like that, too, for this page. I don’t expect this to be a static page. There will be additions (and maybe subtractions), as I grow and mature. But, for now, here are some of the ideas that I live by.

• Improve the world around you: It is my duty as a person to leave things better than how I found them. With each place I go to, then, I can try to improve the world I live in, one travel at a time.
• Curiosity is my superpower: I wouldn’t say that I’m smart in any way. What I am is curious about the world around me. I can’t help but try to learn, whenever I get the chance, because I know that, with each new piece of information I learn, I gain a better understanding of my world.
• Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard: To add on to my above point, I don’t think I’m talented in anything. Where I am right now is because I was curious enough to want to understand, because I worked hard, and because I had a support network strong enough to allow me to go out and seek that understanding.

What I’m Reading

I love reading — full stop. In addition to reading what blog posts I have on this website and reading the ‘Ideas I believe’ section, another way you can get to know me is through seeing what books I’m reading. As of January 7, 2023, some of the books I’m reading:

• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy — I liked reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, so I thought I’d give another classic of Russian literature a try.
• Make it Stick — This is a book about more effective learning/reviewing techniques. I’m interested in these ideas because I want to be a more effective tutor and student.