Nick the Tutor is taking TikTok by storm with a persona-driven towards helping young adults work towards their academic success.
LaPoma is the owner and creator of Curvebreakers Test Prep in Garden City, New York, where he tutors students with an unorthodox method and formula, resulting in high turnouts of academic success.
Since the start of the novel coronavirus lockdown in New York City this past March, LaPoma became TikTok sensation by taking it upon himself to help tutor students across the world through social media, free of charge.
LaPoma released 90,000 free study guides for advanced placement exams worldwide. He released the following video on TikTok following the results of the students’ exams, which were all positive.
@nickthetutor Link in my bio for score/breakdown review #TikTokTaughtMe #MagicMoment #nickthetutor #apexams
This venture led him to become a viral sensation on TikTok, where his following grew to over 60,000 including over 1 million page likes. He felt it was his duty as an educator to help students around the world during a time of need. He currently spends most of his time building off of that.
LaPoma also offered free virtual SAT and ACT study courses every weekday through the lockdown.
“We saw it as our obligation as a member of the community to give back and educate the students any way we could,” said LaPoma. “When I realized the damage done to students’ schooling and saw first hand the negative impact school closure was having on students, we started live-streaming classes.”
Like his study methods, LaPoma’s journey is also unusual. He started a career in working in litigation as a successful lawyer, having graduated from the highly prestigious Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He eventually went on to quit his job in pursuit of his passion, which is tutoring.
“One of the things I learned from my Italian family growing up was hard work and respect,” said LaPoma. “I was pumping gas at 13 at my father’s auto shop. My parents always pushed me to further my education. They instilled the values of hard work in me and I wanted to take my education to the next level.”
Like many immigrant families, LaPoma was a first-generation college student and the entire process behind applying to schools, which he has made a career out of, was once foreign to him.
“I was a first-generation law student with knowledge of the college system. It was new to me. My goal is to pass that information along to other first generation college students. I think of my clients as family and advise them so.”
LaPoma is currently helping students get through this unsual academic year, hoping that his guiding hand will ease the student anxiety caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He published a book, “A New Approach to Desconstruct and Destroy the ACT,” dedicated to the matter.
