A few words from our students about
The impact we have had on the lives of our students
Testimonials
Cecile, Sydney 2023
It has been a great experience working with William, he has been kind, patient and always tries his best to work on my weaknesses. His lesson planning is perfectly structured to suit me and I really appreciate his attention to detail. Over the course of half a term with William, I have seen my english skills transform and my writing is unrecognisable today. Thank you William!
Rose, Sydney 2012
Social Alchemy has been a personal and major stepping stone in my life. Not only have I improved academically but just as importantly the program has also helped me believe in myself and assisted in developing my public speaking, critical thinking and social skills. I had previously missed out on the development of these skills as child. The best thing about Social Alchemy is when you believe all is lost because you either don’t have money for tutoring services and your personal/home situation really sucks, there is hope! Social Alchemy delivered a service directly catered to my needs. At around 15, I ran away from home and lived on the street, in sharehouses, youth crisis refuges, boarding arrangements and foster homes. I had to move around probably 20-30 times over the duration of three years. I had also moved around to a couple of high schools in search of a better education and lifestyle which I did receive. I struggled harshly in my last few years to gain stability within myself and my homes, and I also experienced abuse from many foster homes. I guess during my lifetime, I never really had any time for education, with so many things happening. Social Alchemy came to me during my first year of university. I struggled enormously throughout my first semester at the University of Sydney. The difference between university and high school was that you couldn’t copy and paste or memorise things off a textbook, you had to articulate ideas in your own way, word for word, which was what I struggled with. I also struggled in comprehending literature and many other things in the academic field. I didn’t know how to study, I was just very lucky that I got into university. I only knew about Social Alchemy after my first semester – if only knew about them before. But this testimonial gives me the opportunity to voice my story and allow people to understand that there are opportunities. Social Alchemy is guiding me to become the socially and academically literate person I wish to become. My tutors have guided me in my communication, critical and analytical thinking skills and CL has become a mentor and a friend. He is very empathetic, and is able to cater to anyone’s needs. At the same time he balances how crucial your commitments and your efforts are. He precisely chooses his tutors to be flexible and intellectual. He took me through every stepping stone that I needed in order to achieve my goals. The best thing about CL is his compassion and his honesty. The thing with Social Alchemy is it’s not just tutoring, it’s a journey that I have chosen to take in order to live my dream. CL pushed the limits and not only allocated tutoring to my weaknesses but also allocates extra curricular educational activities to help you expand your horizons.
Kate, Sydney 2012
Social Alchemy offers a unique program of tutoring. As a previously homeless young person who arrived to this country three years ago, I discovered that pursuing my dream of completing the HSC to study at university was ten times harder in comparison to other students of the same age. Life seemed really cruel and unfair, being continually let down and failed by a number of youth organisations and irresponsible youth workers who just didn’t care or seemed incapable of caring. However, I was referred to the Social Alchemy program and I really started to get on the right track. With the help and support of my passionate and patient tutors – Olivia, Bill and Abhi as well as help from Chin-Liang (the head of the program), not only did I improve my academic results, but just as importantly my living and communication skills. With the help of my tutors, I was able to overcome my ESL limitations and I was able to do HSC subjects like Advanced English, Modern History, History Extension and also Mathematics Extension. The amount of effort, time and patience that my Social Alchemy tutors invested in me was amazing; they would always keep in touch and help review my homework and development via email. Different from many other tutoring programs, the tutors at Social Alchemy focus on teaching you independent ways of problem solving and learning, instead of spoon-feeding you with answers. I would recommend the Social Alchemy tutoring program to any young person who has suffered disadvantage and challenges in their lives, who is in need of help to do well at school and wants to change their life through education. Social Alchemy is definitely a stepping-stone to success.