By Aidan Chui, Sairisheeth Venkat, and Emma Gao, SNTutoring Assistant Coordinators
Hosted by Sairisheeth, an SNTutor and assistant coordinator, this is the first of our Tutor-Student Spotlights. Sairisheeth held a Zoom interview with his guitar student of two years, Victor, and Victor’s mom, Jean. Keep reading for Victor’s journey with guitar, as well as Jean’s thoughts about our program! There is a transcript of the entire conversation below.
During the interview, Victor’s musical journey and the positive impact of SNTutoring shines brightly. Victor, diagnosed at a young age, and his family has been a part of FCSN for over two decades. His passion for modern music led him to explore different instruments: guitar, piano, and cello. Choosing the guitar, Victor found joy in expressing his emotions through playing, as well as singing.
Jean highlights her satisfaction with SNTutoring by emphasizing the program’s convenience due to its online platform and the positive influence of young, dedicated mentors like Sairisheeth. After lessons with Sairisheeth, Victor is confident enough to play for family gatherings and even plans to join a band. Jean appreciates Sairisheeth’s maturity, responsibility, and effective communication skills. For Victor and many other students, SNTutoring provides a supportive environment, encouraging the strengths and talents of its students.
Here are a couple of Victor and Sairisheeth’s performances. Enjoy!
Sairisheeth: How did you guys hear about SNTutoring? Or FCSN?
Jean: Oh, we’ve been assisting [FCSN] for long, long years since Victor was four. From East Bay, [the program] moved to South Bay, so we’ve been with FCSN for a long time.
Sairisheeth: Yeah. And speaking of, how long was that?
Jean: About 22 years?
Sairisheeth: So you came [from] the beginning?
Jean: When [Victor] was first diagnosed, close to four years old, we went to FCSN. He’s been diagnosed almost 22 years.
Sairisheeth: Okay, at FCSN, other than guitar, what other subjects does Victor learn?
Jean: Oh, he learned a lot actually. [He] learned singing, music, dancing, language. That’s only for tutoring programs. He also learned Chinese. He [did] their basketball [program] too. There’s a lot of people [part of it] too. And also, he’s doing art classes: ceramics, line dance and traditional dance. So we’re basically pretty much, very much involved.
Sairisheeth: That’s good. And so it’s been two years, right? Like when I joined, how come you guys wanted to do guitar?
Jean: Victor always loved musical instruments. That started with piano 10 years ago. Then, he’s also involved with the cello. So we wanted him to play something [like a band instrument]? And then we happened to know you guys are also able to teach [music] through the tutoring program. So we happened to be lucky to get into it. It’s good to know how to play some casual kind of instrument.
Sairisheeth: When we first started our lessons, you guys had a guitar. Did you guys get the guitar then or did you already have it?
Jean: We bought it a couple of years ago, as you know, we didn’t really learn it. But, we bought it, and his cousin borrowed it for his college class and then returned it back to us. It’s a very basic one. When we bought it at that time, we didn’t really target to have any teacher teaching or something. [It was] like a toy thing, you know, but yeah, we can start utilizing that. That’s good.
Sairisheeth: You said Victor has always loved music. What started that? Was it that he liked songs? Just listening to music? [Was that] why he started learning music, or was it like a family member who played music or anything like that?
Jean: He always loved listening to music, especially modern music. He knows every album because every time my company has concerts, he wants to go, and my husband also loves singing and he’s learning from professional vocalists. He’s in the choir group and [involved] with opera. He’s learned vocals with a teacher for a long time, so he has influenced Victor. But Victor is different: Victor’s not learning classical; he’s more modern.
Sairisheeth: In the guitar lesson, what do you enjoy most? This is more directed towards Victor, but you can also answer too, Jean.
Jean: I think it’s very cheerful and when you play the guitar, you can express your feelings well. And, also you can sing together when you play guitar. Makes things more interesting.
Victor: Because I like to learn.
Sairisheeth: What’s been your favorite song, Victor? We’ve played so many.
Victor: “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus.
Sairisheeth: That’s a really good song. Any other songs that you really liked?
Victor: YMCA.
Sairisheeth: Oh, YMCA? Yeah, I remember we played that too. Those are really good songs.
Jean: That’s all more popular and people can sing together. So they’re good ones.
Sairisheeth: In terms of our guitar class, how has SNTutoring benefitted you guys?
Jean: It’s a really good program. Because through the Zoom online, we don’t have to move around a lot. For you, for example, you are very far away from us. But [you’re good with kids]. Also through the computer, you’re younger than him. He likes to be with younger people [and] to interact with the high school student makes him happy. There’s no traditional, professional teacher, so it’s really fun to learn through this tutoring program because you guys are high school students. You guys may be teaching older students, but they’re psychologically maybe even younger than you guys.
Sairisheeth: Definitely. It’s been really fun. Playing with Victor all these years and playing all the performances. You guys said that you did guitar because you wanted a more casual instrument? Outside of the classes, has he played guitar just in front of family, in front of friends or anything like that?
Jean: Yeah, he did that at Christmas time with his cousins and families. Also, he planned to join a band.
Sairisheeth: That’s really cool, Victor. Good luck to you. I think that’s basically it. Do you guys have anything else you want to say about the guitar lesson?
Jean: We feel like Victor is very lucky to have you because you’re very mature, responsible, and very communicative. Victor’s had a lot of fun during this time. He learned a lot and within a short time, only with you, without any professional. His progress is very [good], so we’re very happy with you. In this program, we’re very, very satisfied.
Sairisheeth: Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s been a great journey. Thank you guys so much for being so accommodative, It’s been really fun with Victor, especially going into this community. Because I love playing with Victor so much, I actually formed a tennis camp a year back, so that’s why I really like helping out this community. And yeah, Victor has been playing so, so well. And he’s always really good with songs.
Jean: We’re so far away, otherwise we would join your tennis because Victor likes it, but that cannot be remote. Otherwise we’ll enjoy playing tennis as well.
Sairisheeth: But yeah, Victor’s is really musically inclined. Everyone talks about him. He’s really good with music. He always learns songs fast. He always has good music taste, and he knows the lyrics of a lot of songs actually, without needing to show him. So that’s really cool. I’ve learned a lot about him. And that brings us to the end of the interview. Thank you guys so much!
Jean: Thank you!
Through the Tutor-Student Spotlights, the SNTutoring Coordinator Team hopes to highlight members of the FCSN community and raise awareness about the impact of SNTutoring. If you would like to be featured on our blog, please reach out to us at sntutoring@fcsn1996.org.
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