As a child, there were three types of places that I wanted to work: a theme park, a zoo, and a bookstore. I’ve already checked-off the first two on the list. I spent fifteen years at Universal Studios Hollywood, and during my twenties, I was part of the Behavioral Research Department at the Greater Los Angeles Zoo.

Now, starting tomorrow, I will be the newest employee at The Tattered Cover Book Store here in Littleton. The Tattered Cover is a wonderful Colorado company that has a chain of independent bookstores. I’m thrilled to be around books and book lovers. I imagine it will give me invaluable insight as I work towards my goal of revising my novel and finding an agent.

However, I can’t begin my new job, without reflecting on the past three years that I’ve spent as an independent contractor for the San Francisco based ESL tutoring company, Cambly.

Cambly came into my life when things were uncertain. We lived in a rural mountain community and we were traveling a lot, frequently hitting the road on the spur of the moment. I needed to earn money, but I needed the flexibility. My husband’s best friend suggested it to me and I applied. Two days later, I was hired and starting my first session, which is similar to a zoom meeting, but through Cambly’s site.

The idea behind Cambly is simple enough, you just show up and help people improve their conversational English. Beyond being a native English speaker, no real skills are needed. However, I found this to be somewhat untrue, as my writing background certainly helped me both tutor and retain students. Sometimes students want help with specific grammar issues or they have complicated questions.

I found myself really diving deep and considering why certain things are the way they are in the English language. I learned more about my native language through helping others. I was also in awe of the learning process and dedication that many of my students showed, often waking up before sunrise to learn English, so they would have time before work and kids gobbled up their day. People are out there achieving major goals and it is inspiring.

After a few months, I was established enough to have a roster of regulars and my schedule became fixed, Mon-Fri, 9am-12pm and 2pm-5pm. I found that my schedule filled almost immediately after I released new time slots. I must “not-so-humbly” brag that I was a popular tutor.

The best part about Cambly is the students. I met amazing people from all over the world. I met doctors, engineers, CEO’s, pilots, architects, lawyers, university students….the list goes on. My youngest student was four and my oldest was in their mid-80’s. I met people who needed English for their careers and those who simply had a love for learning. I met people all over the political and ideological spectrum, and was able to engage in productive, respectful conversations, a truly fascinating and fortunate opportunity as we live in such a divided world.

My stats on Cambly state that I met 1787 different students. I’m not sure how many countries I met people from, but the countries I met the most students from were: Brazil, Turkey, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. My life is certainly enriched from having met these students. I know more about world history, world politics, and geography than I did previous to Cambly. I also have added many places to my travel bucket list. Cambly does not allow tutors to share private information ( I even went by my mom’s middle name- Zora, to protect my identity), but luckily they leave the messaging system active, so when I do travel to these countries, I can contact my former students…my friends.

The worst part of Cambly was the pay. It’s low and per minute of talk, which means when there is a cancelation, there is no pay. There are no other benefits, such as sick pay or medical. The benefits are flexibility and the personal rewards that come from meeting and helping others.

Here is the profile picture I used for Cambly. I was trying to capture the “I’m a fun tutor vibe,” which seemed to work! I’m leaving the site with a 4.97 rating, which is high, and many of my students wrote very kind messages when I told them I was leaving.

I will certainly miss my students and the flexibility, but it was time to move on to the next opportunity. Luckily, my Cambly account will be still be active, so if I decide to return, I can, at any time. I’m not sure what the future holds, especially with pandemic uncertainty, but if I return to Cambly in the future, I know it will be with a happy heart to reconnect with my students from around the world. My life is better because of my time working for Cambly.