Meet Ayoub Ayoub, a former Knack tutor at Rutgers University.
Ayoub began tutoring on Knack in 2022. He tutored students mainly in Financial Econometrics. During his time at Knack, Ayoub was one of the platform’s most active tutors, completing more than 200 sessions. As he begins his full-time position at TD Wealth, we asked him to to reflect on his time tutoring on Knack.
Tell us about yourself!
“I like to think of myself as a hard-working person. I'm a first-generation student. My parents came here with nothing and they worked really hard to give me everything, so I want to give back to them as much as I can. I earned a double major in Finance and Management Information Systems from Rutgers. I got my first internship with TD Wealth last summer and eventually received a full-time offer.”
How did you first hear about Knack?
“I got an ‘A’ in Financial Econometrics during my junior year. My professor reached out to me saying I should join this program to help other students because I excelled in the class. At first, I didn't really think about it because in college, especially my sophomore year, I was kind of like an introvert. Finally, I just decided to sign up. I tutored one person, then two people, then two became four, and it just kept on going. I met so many people.”
What was your experience like being a tutor on Knack?
“My favorite experience was meeting people. I didn't think I would build those connections with the students I met. I still talk to them, even though most of us have graduated. One great experience was when I first started tutoring and I realized how good it makes me feel to help other people. I'm not the one receiving the grade, but it just made me feel good to know that I could help out another student.”
Do you think your experience on Knack helped with your post-undergrad achievements?
“It definitely helped when I started working at TD. On Knack, I talked to so many students, some of which were older than me. Just talking to them made me feel more comfortable holding conversation. So now at work when I'm having a meeting with a couple of people, I don't mind raising my hand and saying something. I feel like my thoughts and ideas matter which is something I think I learned from Knack.”
What is Knack’s most defining feature?
“The recurring sessions I had. I received other tutoring during my freshman year and it was just a one-time thing. It just didn’t feel very comprehensive and inclusive. I feel like Knack got that down with the recurring sessions. They would send reminder emails or text messages saying it's been a couple of days since you tutored this student, follow up with them and schedule another session. I would say that was the best part about the app.”
Do you have any advice for current college students?
“Just don't be shy. If you can help out, help out. You're not just helping others out, you're helping yourself in the long run. Honestly, I think that sums it up.”
Why should college students consider being a tutor at their school?
“It's good to refresh honestly because, for me, Financial Econometrics was just a class with heavy use of Excel. At my job, I'm basically looking at Excel all day. Tutoring that subject throughout a whole semester makes it a lot easier to be able to recall that information from my memory. Repeating that information through tutoring even helps out with your other classes.”
