College Area Tutors Come To You

College Area is a young and hip community in San Diego that centers around the happenings of San Diego State University, with student housing, restaurants, and recreational activities that appeal to many of the youthful impulses of SDSU’s student body. College Area has always appealed to the young and restless, the dreamers and philosophical types immersed in university life and culture. One of these individuals was Gregory Peck, who attended SDSU and is one of San Diego’s native sons.

Peck, best known for his leading roles in films from the 1950s through the 1970s, was born in La Jolla in 1916 and spend much of his early life in the San Diego area. When he enrolled at SDSU, the college was called San Diego State Teacher’s College. During his time at the university, he joined the track team, took his first theatre and public-speaking courses, and pledged the Epsilon Eta fraternity. An English major, Peck had dreams of becoming a doctor, but after transferring to UC Berkeley, found his calling was actually in the world of theater and the movies.

Peck’s most famous film is the classic adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, playing Atticus Finch in one of his most iconic roles. Though Peck was a well-established and famous actor prior to this role, it has been remembered as is most recognizable of the hundreds of movies he played in. Playing Atticus Finch resulted in Peck’s fifth Academy Award nomination, as well as a win for the role. Released in 1962 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, this film and his role were among Peck’s favorites, by his own admission in several interviews. In 2003, Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch was named the greatest film hero of the past 100 years by the American Film Institute.

Students in College Area are by no means under the same pressure to live up to the legend of Gregory Peck and the lasting impression he made in education and media. However, they can learn from his role as Atticus Finch and emulate his example—Finch’s bravery, persistence, and sense of fairness gave him clarity of mind and purity of heart to be able to defend the falsely-accused Tom Robinson in court. Tutors who work with students in College Area encourage their clients to be like Atticus in the face of faltering grades. Atticus came to Tom’s rescue when no one else would—likewise, tutors are there to step in and mitigate academic problems so students can find the academic success they seek, despite difficult circumstance.