Tutoring

Tough assignment? Exam coming up?

Want to get ahead? I'm here to help.

Who I Serve

About Me

What I Teach

Teaching Philosophy

Rates

Schedule

Contact

About this Website

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I am excited to offer evening and weekend Computer Science tutoring to university students in the Boston area. I offer sessions seven days a week both remotely and in-person at the following locations:

Harvard University, Science and Engineering Complex
MIT, Stata Center
Norteastern University, West Village H
Boston College, 245 Beacon Street
Boston University, Center for Computing and Data Sciences

Book a Session

About Me

Hi! My name is Ryan Torok, and I work for zeroRISC, a startup company in Boston developing a cloud security service for the OpenTitan project. I hold a Master's degree in Computer Science from Princeton University and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas. I am interested in all things related to computer security and systems. In 2023, I gave this talk at IEEE Security Conference about my research paper I authored with Amit Levy at Princeton about a novel defense against privacy attacks in web browsers. When I'm not working on CS-related business, I enjoy playing the cello, composing music, running, and hiking.

You can learn more about me at my homepage.

What do I teach?

My specialty is in Computer Security and Computer Systems, including Operating Systems, Distributed Systems, and Networking. However, I have ample proficiency to teach in nearly all areas of Computer Science, including:

Introductory Programming Data Structures and Algorithms
Discrete Mathematics Differential and Integral Calculus
Matrices and Linear Algebra Probability and Statistics
Systems Programming in Unix Computer Architecture
Databases and Storage Technologies Operating Systems
Theoretical Algorithms Computer and Wireless Networking
Distributed Systems Computer and Network Security
Introductory Machine Learning Blockchains and Decentralization

What is my teaching philosophy?

Coding is intimidating. College is intimidating. Life is intimidating. Asking for help shouldn't be.

As a self-proclaimed veteran of five TA roles at Princeton University and the University of Texas, I have always found my students have learned best when they felt the freedom to ask questions, get stuck, ask me to discuss their ideas about how to get un-stuck, and then use the process through which we come up with a solution as a learning tool to solve future problems.

I seldom view finishing an assignment or passing an exam as an end goal for my students. When I walk a student through the solution to a problem, I use the problem as a tool demonstrate the why behind the solution. Why does a particular algorithm work? Why does a block of code behave the way it does? Why did a particular issue with a piece of code break the solution? By discussing these types of questions during one-on-one sessions, I observe that students are much less likely to repeat mistakes, and much more likely to be able to reproduce the solutions to problems, apply them to other problems, and explain them to other students in simple words.

Rates

Individuals: $35 per 60 minute session

Groups of 2 or more: $25 per person per 60 minute session

Payments are accepted through Zelle (tutor@ryantorok.net), which is offered by most online bank accounts. Students with in-person sessions may also pay by cash or check.

Sign up by choosing a time slot below!

I offer both remote and in-person sessions at all locations 7 days a week. For in-person sessions, you must leave at least one vacant slot between your reservation and any existing reservation on the same day at a different location. All times are in US Eastern Time (UTC-5). I accept registrations up to four weeks in advance. A new week becomes available at midnight Eastern Time each Saturday night.

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Contact

If you have additional questions, feel free to send me an email! I'm quite reponsive at tutor@ryantorok.net.

About this website

I wrote this website entirely myself, using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the frontend browser application, and Rust for the backend server, using the Rocket and Diesel libraries and PostgreSQL for the database.

Yes, I could have used an existing online scheduling app like Calendly or Doodle, but I had several reasons for not doing so. First, these services use a freemium model that offers limited functionality in the base version and requires upgrading to a commercial licence to use the full version. By writing the server myself, I can ensure that I implement all the functionality I need, and if I ever outgrow it, I can upgrade whenever and however I want.

A second reason is to set a good example when it comes to privacy. An alarming number of websites include invisible HTML tags served by Google, Meta, and other companies that allow them to track the pages you visit. You can verify this yourself by installing the NoScript extension in Firefox (which I highly recommend, by the way). You'll find nothing of the sort running on my website. Web tracking aside, I decided early on that using a spreadsheet on Office 365 or Google Sheets was not a viable method for scheduling, because your name and contact information would be visible to the public internet. When and whether you schedule tutoring sessions should be no one's business but yours and mine, and my server implementation allows me to uphold confidentiality.

The third, and perhaps most important reason, was to learn. Though I have been proficient in Rust for several years, I had not used either Rocket or Diesel before creating this website, and I decided the best way to familiarize myself with both libraries was to write a server with them. Often, the best way to learn a programming language, framework, or library is to use it.

Unless indicated otherwise, all non-external content on ryantorok.net is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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