My name is Despina. I am a former student-athlete from Wayne State University. I graduated a with a BS in Biological Sciences major and a modern-Greek language minor and an MS in evolutionary and developmental genetics from Wayne State. I have significant teaching experience from my time as a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) during graduate school, and a supplemental instructor in during my undergraduate degree. Currently, I am a medical student at SGU.

My teaching style is based off my own experience as a student. I remember sitting down and re-reading the same paragraph multiple times and get frustrated because I wasn't able to retain the information. Therefore, when I first started teaching as an SI, my first goal was to make students engaged and get a grasp of their level of understanding of the content. By simplifying things to the individual student's perspective, I can make my teaching session more efficient and the student can be comfortable asking for clarification if they don't understand something. With memorable analogies and simplification, it is not only easier for student's to memorize content, but also facilitates understanding of more advanced concepts as well.

I have taught classes ranging from introductory freshman biology to junior-senior level classes. These courses have covered the following subjects: cell biology, microbiology, genetics, comparative physiology, and human physiology. I was also nominated by the Wayne State Biological Sciences Department for the Heberlein Excellence in Teaching Award in 2019 and was the first from my department to win the award.

Reading and comprehension have always been a strength of mine. This skill helped with both standardized tests (including the MCAT and military ASVAB) and have been a co-author on several peer-reviewed publications.

Whether it is a single student or a group of students, my goal is establish a learning environment that helps make learning enjoyable. Please feel free to contact me with questions or to schedule a lesson.