About
About Benjamin McHale
What that background actually has to do with tutoring
Both parts shape how I teach, in a specific way. Engineering school taught me that almost every problem a student calls impossible is a problem they have not yet written down correctly. Submarine training taught me that a procedure you only half-understand is the one that fails under pressure — which is exactly what a memorized formula does on an exam.
Why I tutor the way I do
Most tutoring is answer delivery. A student brings problem 14, leaves with problem 14 solved, and meets problem 15 exactly the way they met problem 14.
I teach the structure underneath instead: what kind of problem this is, what the setup has to look like before any algebra happens, and how you would recognize the same shape wearing different clothes. It is slower in session one and considerably faster by session five.
That is also why every session ends with something you keep — a full video recording and a high-resolution PDF of the whiteboard. The session is not the deliverable; what you can do the following week is.
Who I am a good fit for
- Students who want to understand the method, not just clear tonight's assignment
- Engineering students in the courses that decide whether the major sticks
- Families who would rather have one tutor across several years and several subjects
- ASVAB candidates preparing for a specific rating or career path — how ASVAB prep works
- Current Naval Academy midshipmen — there is a dedicated rate
Who I am not a good fit for
- Anyone who needs homework completed rather than taught
- Courses outside the subjects I list. I would rather turn down work than take a subject I cannot teach well
- Students looking exclusively for last-night exam cramming. I will take the session, but it is not where this approach earns its keep
How I work
Sessions are 1-on-1, online anywhere in the United States or in person in Virginia Beach. Before the first session I read the actual syllabus rather than guessing at the course.
Start with a short call.
Tell me the course, the instructor's style, and what is actually going wrong. I will tell you honestly whether I am the right person for it.
Get in touch